Lost and Found
by kelleegilmore
Summary: Bella loves and loses Edward in college. He walks back into her life four years later, but she's found new love with Jake. Even after four years Bella still loves Edward, who will she choose? AH; B/J; B/E; OOC; M for Lemons and language
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fanfiction. I really hope you all like it. Special thanks to my awesome beta kyla713. Please read and review.**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.**

Chapter 1

I think about him all the time. Even after all these years, he stays on my mind. My sister, Alice thinks I need to see a shrink because I haven't dated anyone since him. Truth is, I've actually tried to date but no one has been able to keep my attention for more than five minutes. Dating is such a hassle. You have to be on your best behavior, pretend you like the things he likes, try to keep a conversation going; all the while trying to make yourself appealing to him. It may be easy for most girls to keep a conversation going but I'm just not that much of a talker. I like to listen and observe. Most men expect the woman to do all the talking while they insert a word every once in a while, which obviously wouldn't work for me. We spend most of the date just looking at each other waiting for the other to fill the silence. It's just more of a hassle than its worth. Sometimes I wish that I could get over Edward and move on with my life; meet a new man and have a couple of kids. But when I imagine my wedding day, the man at the alter is always Edward. He's standing there looking gorgeous, his big green eyes staring at me with nothing but love and adoration. When I imagine what my children will look like they have Edward's dazzling green eyes and my heart shaped face, his beautiful bronze hair and my pale skin.

"Bella!" Alice yelled my name interrupting my thoughts. "Bella where are you?"

"I'm up here Alice, in my office"

Alice is my older sister. She's about four foot nothing with black spiky hair and a thin curvy frame. Alice is an extremely successful fashion designer and works out of New York about seventy-five percent of the time. She has an office here in Chicago where she spends the rest of her time. Although she says she has the Chicago office because she misses home, I suspect she keeps it so that she can keep her eye on me. Not that I'm complaining, I love to have her around but I think she worries about me way too much. Alice thinks I can't possibly be happy if I don't have a man to share my life with. I keep trying to convince her that I'm perfectly fine; I have plenty of things to fill my time. I have my own catering business that keeps me very occupied and in my free time I volunteer at the Anti-Cruelty Society. Alice of course still tries to set me up on blind dates and always has her eyes open for potential husbands for me.

"Bella, you will never guess who I ran into today!" Alice exclaimed

"Who?" I replied.

"Jacob Black! I was shopping on Michigan Avenue when I stopped to grab some popcorn from Garrett's. I was replying to an email on my blackberry not really paying attention where I was going and I walked right into Jacob. I looked up and there he was all six foot five inches of him. I must say he looks _a lot_ different then he did when we were kids. He just moved back to Chicago after living in Washington for a few years. He has no kids and he's single by the way. He asked about you, and I hope you don't mind, I gave him your number," Alice rattled off excitedly.

"Wow. It's been a long time since I've seen or spoken to Jacob. Does he seem like he's doing well? And no I don't mind that you gave him my number. It will be really nice to talk to him and catch up with each other," I replied ignoring her not-so-subtle hint about him being single.

"Yes, he seems to be doing really well. He moved back here after being offered a position at some sporting goods company based out of Chicago. Apparently they paid to relocate him and are paying for his house once he finds one. He has an apartment downtown right off Michigan Avenue" Alice reported

I haven't spoken or seen Jacob in about seven or eight years. We grew up together here in Chicago and he was my best friend from the time we were eight years old through high school. He left Chicago right after high school to attend college in Washington and ended up staying there after he graduated. I stayed in Chicago to attend The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. We kept in touch for a while after he left but after the first year of college the calls grew fewer and farther between until we just completely lost touch. I missed Jacob terribly the first few years after he left but he seemed to grow distant while he was away and our friendship unfortunately dwindled.

"He said that he'd probably call you soon to catch up with you. Aren't you excited to talk to him? You guys were best buds for the longest time and seemed to know each other so well. I think its great that he's back in town so you guys can get back in touch," Alice said

"Yeah, I look forward to his call. So are we still going to lunch?" I asked.

"Sure. Let me give Jasper a call and I will be ready to go," Alice said as she walked into the living room to make her phone call. Jasper is Alice's husband of four years. They met in Alice's first year of college and have been inseparable since. Jasper is a really good guy and treats Alice like a queen. He owns a franchise of martial arts studios all over New York and considering opening a few in Chicago, since Alice spends so much time out here.

I got up from my desk to get my jacket and purse to head out to lunch with Alice when the phone rang "Hello?"

A male voice spoke into phone "Good Afternoon, may I please speak with Bella Swan?"

"This is Bella speaking, who may ask is calling," I asked.

"Hi Bella! It's Jake. How are you doing?" Jake replied cheerily.

"Hey Jake! I'm doing really well. God, it's been so long since I've spoken to you. How are you?" I said, my voice echoing Jake's enthusiasm.

"I'm doing well. I ran into Alice this morning downtown and she gave me your number. I just moved back to Chicago. Alice told me that you run your own catering company and business is going really well for you. I should have figured that's what you'd end up doing knowing how much you used to love to cook."

"Yes, I worked in the kitchen at a couple of restaurants around Chicago but I really wanted to have my own business to be able to create the food I was passionate about. So that's what I did. What brings you back to Chicago?" I asked pretending Alice didn't already fill me in.

Just as he was about to answer Alice walked into my office with an irritated look on her face. "Can you hold on one minute Jake?" I asked

"Sure," he answered

"Hey Bella, I'm going to have to reschedule our lunch. I have to run back into the office to straighten out somebody else's screw up. My work never ends! I call you later tonight, maybe we can do dinner if I'm done with work early enough" Alice spoke all the while typing furiously on her Blackberry. She finally looked up and noticed I was on the phone she mouthed an apology, put her hand to her ear and mouth mimicking a phone to signal she'd call me later and was out the door.

I put my ear back to the phone. "Sorry about that Jake"

"No problem, as I was saying, I moved back to Chicago because of my job. I got a promotion that required me to work out here. I now run all of the Sports Authority stores in the Chicago area my main office is in the west loop downtown but I'm hardly there." Jake responded rather proudly

"That's great Jake congrats on the promotion! You and I should get together for lunch one day soon to catch up with each other," I told him

"Sure. I was just going to suggest that myself. How about this weekend? Is Saturday good for you?" Jake asked

"Actually I'm catering a party on Saturday, but I'm free Sunday for lunch," I replied

"Sunday it is. Do you want to meet at a place or would you like me to pick you up?" He asked

"Why don't you come over to my place and I can make us lunch," I suggested

"Sounds good. What's your address?"

I gave Jake my information and got off of the phone really excited to see him this weekend. It would be nice to have my old friend Jake back in my life


	2. Chapter 2

**Once again thanks to my awesome beta, Dawn. I hope you all enjoy this chapter please read and review.**

**Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.**

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Chapter 2

I woke up Thursday morning energized and ready to get to work. I had to finish up my menu for Saturday's party and head to my store downtown to stock my kitchen. Once I showered and dressed, I got my shopping lists and headed out the door. Traffic was good this morning thank God; anyone who's ever driven through traffic in Chicago knows what a blessing that is. The lack of traffic definitely added to my good mood. I turned on the radio and heard Evanescence's "My Immortal" and there went my good mood. The song sent me back to my dorm room four years ago.

_I was sitting on my bed waiting for Edward to arrive. The clock read 8:00 pm, Edward was supposed to be here an hour ago and he wasn't answering his phone, I was starting to get worried. Just when I was getting ready to call him for the third time my cell rang, the caller ID read Edward. "Hello, Edward? Where are you? Why didn't you answer my phone calls?" I asked a little irritated now that I knew he was ok. It took almost a full minute before Edward responded, "I'm sorry I didn't answer your calls I was just trying to clear my head," he responded sounding very down_

_"Edward what's wrong?" I asked a little alarmed_

_"Bella, I have to tell you something. I spoke to Tanya earlier today and she had a bit of news for me." he said and then paused_

_"Tanya, your ex-girlfriend?" I asked very worried now._

_"Yes," he continued. "She told me .... I'm just going to come over Bella, its better if we talk in person. I'll be there in five minutes," he said quickly and hung up the phone._

_At this point my heart was beating so hard I thought it was about to pop out of my chest. What could she possibly have to tell Edward? Their relationship ended three months ago, what the hell does she have to say to him. I started to feel this dread deep down in the pit of my stomach I just knew something was horribly wrong. I tried to keep myself from crying while I was waiting on him to arrive._

_Edward arrived at my dorm room ten minutes later with this pitiful look on his face and I just knew he was going to tell me something that would change our relationship forever._

_He sat down on my bed and looked up at me. He opened up his mouth to say something but then closed it again. I could see him sitting there thinking, I guess he was trying to figure out how to word what he needed to say to me. After about a minute I grew tired and yelled " Edward fucking spit it out, your scaring me!"_

_"Bella, Tanya's pregnant and its mine," he said so low I almost didn't hear him._

_My heart sank and I just stood there and stared at him while he looked at me waiting for me to respond._

_"How many months is she?" I asked._

_"She says she's a little over three months pregnant. When she found out she went to the women's clinic to have an abortion but she was too far along so now she has no choice but to go through with the pregnancy," he said in that same low voice_

_"Oh." That was all I could say. I didn't know what else there was to say._

A car horn blared behind and me brought me back to reality as I proceeded to my store. It was little things like a song or a smell that would make me think of Edward and how much I missed him. I need to shake myself out of this funk, I have too much to do today to sit around rehashing my relationship with Edward. I had a party to prepare for. Once I arrived at my store I took inventory of my fridge and pantry to scratch off anything on my shopping list that I already had. When I was done with that, I headed out to the grocery store.

There were more people at the grocery store than I expected during the middle of a weekday. I made my way through the store dropping what I needed in my cart as I came across it. I went to the deli counter and ordered ten pounds of fresh salmon. While I was waiting I heard a familiar voice call my name. When I turned around, I saw him and Alice sure didn't lie when she said Jacob had really grown up. Jacob stood over six feet tall, had broad shoulders and long muscular, extremely muscular arms. His skin was a smooth, light brown with a red tint underneath. He had full lips and bright brown eyes; his Native American features very striking. His black silky hair was cut short and he was wearing a black Obama t-shirt that read Change across the front underneath a picture of Barack Obama. He also was wearing dark blue jeans that fit in all the right places.

With a big smile on my face I walked over to give him a big hug. "Hi Jake!"

"Funny running into you here. What are you doing grocery shopping downtown when you live on the south side of the city?" he asked

"My store is down here and I needed to restock my pantry and fridge for my catering event this weekend." I replied

I noticed Jake thoroughly assessing me as I answered his question. "Bella, you look great, really great. It's so good to see your face again," he said sincerely.

"It's really good to see you too Jake. You don't look so bad yourself. You've gotten so tall! How tall are you?" I asked

Jake smiled and said "I'm six foot five." I almost giggled at that because Alice had guessed his height exactly.

Just then the butcher caught my attention and let me know my salmon was ready. Jake looked down at my cart and said "You have a lot of food to carry in, would you like some help? I can follow you with in my car to your store and help you with your bags if you like." Jake offered

"Sure. Thanks Jake. I don't know what I was thinking going grocery shopping without my assistant to help with all this food," I replied

I walked ahead of Jake to the check out counter, I had the feeling that he was checking me out as I walked ahead of him but I didn't dare look back at him. Once we both checked out and had the bags in my car we headed to my store. Jake helped me bring the bags in and unload them. With his help it took us no time to unload the bags and restock my pantry. I decided to fix him lunch for helping me out.

"Jake I really appreciate your help today. I'm going to make you lunch for helping me out. Do you like chicken salad?" I inquired

"Sure. I'm starving. What is it about grocery shopping that always make you hungry?" he asked

"I don't know but the same thing happens to me. Have a seat on one of the stools and I have your lunch done in a minute," I said as I began moving around the kitchen making our lunch.

"So Bella, how do you like your neighborhood? I'm house hunting and I'm having a hard time finding place I like. The city has changed a lot since the last time I was home and I have no idea what the neighborhoods are like now," Jake queried as he patiently waited.

"I absolutely love Hyde Park. I actually think you would like it a lot. There are plenty of restaurants and quaint little shops. There's public transportation so you would have that option instead of driving everywhere," I told him

"Sounds like a great neighbor hood. I have a favor to ask you, do you think you could help me house hunt? It would be really helpful to have you there seeing as you know the city so well," he asked

I thought about it for a minute and said "Sure. I'd be happy to help you out Jake."

I finished our lunch and we talked for hours reminiscing and telling each other about our college days and our life as it is now. It was so good to talk to Jake, it almost felt like we were never apart. I really missed my friend and now I'm so glad to have him back.


	3. Chapter 3

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**Once again thanks to my awesome beta, Dawn. I hope you all enjoy this chapter please read and review. **

**WARNING: This chapter contains LEMONS!!!**

**Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.**

**Chapter 3**

The rest of my week went smoothly including the catering event on Saturday. On Sunday I allowed myself to sleep in until 9:30 am to get some much needed rest. I got up and decided that I would make me and Jacob Pasta and Salmon Salad for lunch this afternoon. I spoke to him early Saturday morning and he said he would arrive at my house around 1:00 pm; giving me plenty of time to prepare. I checked my email, put on some coffee and started to straighten up the house a bit. At noon, I began to make our salads and set my table. When I heard the doorbell ring at 12:45 pm, I went to answer it and found Jake standing on my porch dressed in jeans and a tan button down shirt. He looked so nice I had to keep myself from staring at him too long. He was holding flowers in his right hand and a bottle of white wine in his left. He noticed my eyes go to the flowers and handed them to me looking a little self-conscious.

"Thought I should get you something for inviting me to your home and making me what I'm sure will be a delicious lunch. I brought wine as well, hope you like white," he said

"The flowers are beautiful, thanks! White wine is great, my favorite actually. Come on in," I said as we walked into my living room. "Have a seat, I just finished making our lunch. Are you hungry now or would you like to wait a little bit?"

"I could eat now," he replied with a smile lighting up his handsome face.

"Ok, well come this way," I said as I walked him to the dining room. "Have a seat. I'm going to put these flowers in some water and I'll bring our plates out in a minute. You can hand me the wine and I'll put it in the fridge. I have some wine that's already chilled."

I took the wine and left to get our food. As I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a vase to put the flowers in, I started to feel butterflies in my stomach. Jacob had always been just a friend but after seeing him on Thursday and talking to him everyday since I started to feel differently about Jake. He has grown into such a good man and he's definitely gotten better looking with age. He's the sweetest guy I've ever known and I feel completely at ease around him. Hmmm, I wonder if he's dating anyone….slow down Bella you just got back in touch with Jake he probably just misses your friendship.

After putting the flowers in the vase of water, I walked back into the dining room grabbing our plates and the chilled wine on the way. Once I sat Jake's plate down in front of him he tore into the salad. "Bella, this is so good!" he said excitedly in between bites. "Man, I really missed your cooking when I was away. I missed you period."

"Glad you're enjoying it. I really missed you too. I have yet to find a friend as loyal as you were to me," I replied. "Hey Jake? Why did we lose touch? I thought our friendship would last regardless of how far apart we were," I asked with a bit of sadness lacing my voice.

He looked up at me with a strange look on his face, then looked back down at his plate and pushed it away. After a while he finally said, "Bella I didn't expect you to know this but, I had the biggest crush on you ever since we were eight years old. When I went away to college I thought my feelings would fade but they only seemed to grow stronger. I convinced myself that you would never feel the same way about me and I felt like I was just torturing myself every time I talked you. I decided that it would be better if we didn't talk so much and talking to you every once in a while eventually led to hardly talking to you at all." After he confessed he had an apologetic look on his face.

"I never knew you felt that way about me, Jake. I wish you would have said something, maybe our friendship would still be intact if you did," I said shocked and bitter at the same time. I had no idea Jake had feelings for me but I felt like he should have talked to me instead of throwing our friendship away altogether.

"I'm sorry, Bella, I know I handled it all wrong. I really regret letting our friendship go. It was really stupid and immature on my part. I just hope we can be good friends again," Jake said looking very remorseful.

"I hope so too Jake. I'm really glad you're back," I said and gave him a sincere smile. I really was looking forward to getting to know Jake again. We always had such a good time together; who knows maybe it could lead to more than friendship. I wouldn't push it though. I just got him back and didn't want to ruin our relationship before we reestablished it. Plus I don't think I'm quite ready for a relationship; a big part of my heart still belonged to Edward and part of me thinks he will always have a hold on me.

We continued to eat our lunch and talk. Jake informed me that he had an appointment later today to meet with his realtor to see a town home in the Old Town neighborhood. He asked if I would go with him and I agreed. His appointment with the realtor wasn't until 4:30 pm so I took him on a tour of my neighborhood so he could get a feel for it. He really seemed to like it and decided that he'd tell his realtor to focus on finding him a house in the area.

At 3:30 we headed out to meet his realtor. Jake's company car was quite impressive. I don't know much about cars but it looked really fancy and it screamed money. He insisted on driving, so we hopped in his car and jumped on Lake Shore Drive heading north. We arrived at the town home about twenty minutes early and decided to take a quick walk around the block to check out the neighborhood a bit. We circled the block and when we got back in front of the building Jake spotted his realtor pulling up. She got out of her car wearing a tight fitting brown skirt and matching jacket with a low cut light pink blouse underneath. She was a very attractive woman and looked to be about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. She had fiery red curly hair and curves for days. As she walked toward us she looked slightly shocked to see me there. She approached us smiling, and greeted Jacob warmly "Hi Jacob" She extended her hand to me and said "Hello, I'm Victoria"

I shook her hand and introduced myself "Hi, I'm Bella Swan".

Victoria gave me a good once over before leading us into the Town home. I noticed her subtly flirting with Jacob the whole time we were viewing the town home. I thought it was very rude; how did she know that Jacob and I weren't a couple? I found myself becoming very upset with "_Vicky_", as she asked Jake to call her, and was really ready to get out of here. Once we finished the viewing, Jacob thanked the owner and as we headed out the door, asked _Vicky _to set up some viewings in the Hyde Park area. She added a little note in the folder she was holding and we were on our way. In the car Jake looked over to me and asked, "So what did you think of the town home?"

"I thought it was very nice. It was very spacious and I absolutely loved the kitchen. But I'm not the one looking for a home, how did you like it?" I replied

"It's the best home I've seen so far. I still would like to view a few homes in your area but if I don't find anything I think I'll make an offer on this one," Jake answered sounding optimistic.

"Great, well it looks like the end to your house hunting is in sight," I said and smiled knowing Jacob was more than ready to find a home.

"I noticed that Vicky seems to really like you," I said attempting to get an impression of how Jake felt about her.

Jake smirked and said "Yeah, when I first got to town and started my house hunt she offered to show me around town. Apparently she didn't know that I was originally from Chicago."

"Oh? So did you guys go out?" I asked trying to squeeze more information out of him and hopefully dissolve the pang of jealousy I felt in the pit of my stomach.

"No. Vicky's not really my type. I like brunettes," Jake replied casually glancing at my long dark brown hair.

"Oh," I said trying to hide the smile that tugged at the corner of my lips. "Well I'm sure she was disappointed but she doesn't seem to be too discouraged."

Jake smirked but didn't say anything else. We arrived at my house around 6:00 pm and I asked Jake if he'd like to stay for dinner. He agreed and as we walked into my house it looked as if he Jake was in deep thought. "What's on your mind?" I inquired

"Nothing," he replied quickly looking as if I'd caught him doing something wrong

Instead of probing for more information I let it go and led Jake into the living room. I told him to have a seat while I whipped up a quick dinner. "Hey Bella, why don't we just order a pizza? I could really go for a Giordanno's deep-dish sausage pizza. It's been years since I had one," Jake suggested nearly salivating at the thought of Giordanno's pizza.

"Yumm that sounds good. I haven't had deep-dish pizza in a while myself. Let me go find the number and place our order," I handed Jake the television remote control and headed to the kitchen to find Giordanno's take out menu. When I found the menu I placed our order and headed back to the living room. Jake of course had the television tuned into Sports Center.

"The pizza should be here in about 45 minutes," I said as I sat down next to Jake. "Would you like to watch a movie?" I asked hoping he said yes because I really was not a sports fan.

"Sure what do you have?" he inquired

I got up and walked over to my DVD collection to pick out a movie. "What are you in the mood for? Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance, or Horror?" I asked looking up from my collection at Jake.

"Why don't you decide? Surprise me," he said, smiling sweetly.

I grabbed the movie Atonement, put it in the DVD player and sat on the sofa next to Jacob. "Alice bought me this movie a few weeks ago after she found out that I hadn't seen it yet. She's been raving about it for almost a month now. I told her I watched it and loved it, but between you in me this is the first chance I've gotten to actually sit down and watch it," I told him "You haven't seen it yet have you?"

"No not yet but I've heard it's really good," Jake replied

I started to press play on the DVD remote but paused "Maybe I should wait until the pizza guy gets here before I play the movie. I don't want to get into the film and then be interrupted by the pizza guy," I explained

"Good idea," Jake agreed. He turned to face me and asked, "So Bella where's the man of the house? Aren't you dating anyone?"

"No. I'm not seeing anyone. My catering business keeps me so busy I don't really have the time to date," I replied. Before he asked anymore questions about my love life I asked about his, "Are you dating anyone? Leave any wives behind in Washington?"

"Ha. Ha. No, I'm not seeing anyone. My last relationship ended about four months ago," Jake answered.

"What happened?" I asked

"Jessica got a job offer in California and moved away. I don't do well in long distance relationships and I didn't love her enough to want to move to California," he answered very frankly. Shifting the conversation, Jake jokingly said, "Well I'm glad you made the time to fit me into your busy schedule, Ms. Swan. I feel honored."

I giggled at his silliness. "You're welcome; anything for a friend."

The doorbell rang just then and I got up to answer it. Jake followed me and when I opened the door Jake took the pizza from the pizza guy and handed him $40. He told him to keep the change and walked the pizza into the kitchen. I followed him and grabbed the plates for our pizza along with some soda and headed back to the living room. We ate our pizza and watched Atonement, which we both really enjoyed. When it was over Jake decided it was time for him to get home and thanked me again for coming with him to see the property in Old Town.

I walked Jake to the front door and he gave me a big hug. He smelled so good that I felt nearly intoxicated as he enveloped his large body around my small frame. He looked down at me and asked, "Do you think you can fit me into your busy schedule on Friday night? I'd like to take you to dinner."

I thought about his question for a minute, mentally checking my schedule for the week and said, "Sure I only have one catering event this week and that's on Thursday afternoon."

Jake smiled and said, "Good. Now I have something to look forward to all week."

The way he looked at me sent a familiar sensation through me. I felt a warm tingle between my legs and it shocked the shit out of me. I hadn't felt that since Edward. The sensation wasn't quite as intense as I felt when I was with Edward but it was damn close. It scared me and excited me at the same time. I told Jake goodnight and closed the door as he walked to his car.

I walked into living room, cleaning up our mess and putting the remaining pizza in the fridge. Then I walked down the hall to the bathroom to start some bath water. As I started to undress and get in the tub my mind wandered back to the first night I spent alone with Edward.

_My roommate was spending the night at her boyfriend's house so Edward and I had my dorm room to ourselves for the night. I was nervous as all hell but so ready to experience love in the physical sense, if you catch my drift. Edward and I were lying across my bed in the middle of a hot and heavy make out session. Edward rolled over so that he was on top of me kissing and licking my neck drawing quiet moans from me. He had his hand up my shirt caressing my breast. I could feel his hardness on my thigh and it was making me even hotter. He looked up at me his eyes hooded with lust and said, "Bella, I love you and I want you so bad right now, but I want you to be sure your ready for this."_

_I looked into Edwards beautiful green eyes and said, "I love you too Edward and I want to show you how much I love you."_

_Edward crushed his lips into mine kissing me hard. He slipped his tongue into my mouth caressing and stroking mine. Our breathing became heavy and he brought his hands down my legs, up my skirt and started rubbing my thigh. I brought my hands to his shirt and tugged on it. He sat up and quickly pulled his shirt off. I pulled my shirt off as well and he was back on top of me in seconds. He moved his hands between my legs and traced the elastic along my panties with his finger. I moaned long and deep as he pulled my panties to the side and rubbed his finger between my lips. He moaned into my ear and said very huskily "Damn Bella you're so wet." He started rubbing his fingers up and down my wetness causing me to breathe faster and moan into his mouth while he was kissing me. _

_I reached down, unbuckled his jeans and pulled his length out of his boxers. I grabbed it firmly and started to stroke it. Edward's moans mixed with mine as we worked on each other. His finger moved to my entrance and slid in slowly. He moved his finger in and out of me so slowly it was driving me crazy. My moans became louder as his finger continued to work inside of me. _

_Edward pulled his finger out and put it in his mouth sucking my juices from it. He looked down at me and said, "Bella you taste so fucking good". The sight of him licking his finger sent me into frenzy. I pulled off my skirt and panties and started to tug at his jeans. He pulled them off along with his boxers and leaned down to take off my bra. His body was gorgeous; it was pale, smooth and muscular. His dick was beautiful; long, thick and rock hard. He laid me back down and proceeded to kiss my right breast, he drew my nipple into his mouth and began to suck gently while he massaged my left breast with his other hand. I didn't think it was possible but it felt like I grew even wetter as he did this. He moved from my breast and started to lick and kiss his way down my stomach all the way down to my center. He placed his tongue in between my wet lips and began to lick me slowly. He took my clit between his lips and sucked it gently. I felt something building in me slowly and as he slid his finger inside me and stroked the right spot and I exploded. _

_Edward grabbed his jeans from the floor reached into his pocket and pulled out a condom. He looked over at me as I was lying on my back recovering from the amazing orgasm he'd just given me and asked, "Bella are you sure?"_

_I looked at him and nodded my head yes. He ripped open the condom package and slid the condom on. He climbed on top of me, spread my legs and placed the tip of his dick inside me. He leaned down to kiss me as he eased inside me a little bit at a time. I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. But once I'd gotten past the pain of it, it felt absolutely amazing. The man I loved was making love to me and if felt so incredible. As Edward stroked me he looked into my eyes and I saw all of the love he felt for me. It was so overwhelming tears fell from my eyes. Edward saw my tears and paused to ask if I was ok. I told him I was fine and that I loved him. When he was certain I was ok, he began to move inside me again and proceeded to bring me to my next orgasm and it was even better than the first._

I brought myself back to reality feeling hot and bothered. _Damn Bella why did you have to go there?_ I got out of the tub, dried off and headed to my room. I opened the drawer of my night stand and pulled out my vibrator. I got myself all worked up might as well finish myself off.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Once again thanks to my awesome beta, Dawn. I hope you all enjoy this chapter please read and review. **

**Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.**

* * *

Chapter 4

I woke up Monday morning at 6:00 am to my extremely loud alarm clock. I rolled over and slammed my hand down on the off button. _Damn alarm clocks!_ I rolled back over lay on my back and stared at the ceiling until I could drag myself out of bed. Just as I finally decided to get up my phone rang, I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed the receiver "Hello," Alice's high-pitched voice rang through "Good morning sleepy head! Are you free for lunch today? I have some news that I can't wait to share with you."

"Good morning Alice," I responded my voice hoarse from sleep. "I have to check my schedule to be sure but I think I'm free today. I have to run to the grocery store to restock a few items but I can do that after lunch."

"You want to meet at Lalo's downtown at about noon?" Alice asked hopefully

"Sounds good. I'll call you later if I have a scheduling conflict, if not I'll just meet you there." After I hung up with Alice I dragged myself from my bed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. Once I was dressed, well semi-dressed I headed to the kitchen to start some coffee.

As I started the coffee my phone rang again. _Aren't I popular this morning_? I picked up the phone, "Hello"

"Good morning Bella!" Jake's voice rang through sounding awful chipper for 7:30 in the morning. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Morning Jake I'm feeling well. How about yourself?" I replied my mood slightly improved at the sound of his voice.

"I'm good. I was getting ready to head into work and I was thinking about you so I decided to give you a call just to see how your morning was going," Jake said

"Well that was sweet. Thanks for calling." The fact that I was on Jake's mind this early in the morning made me smile and sent butterflies to my stomach.

"I won't hold you up, I'm sure you have a busy day ahead of you. I'll give you a call later today or tomorrow. Have a great day Bella," Jake said with sincerity in his voice

"Thanks Jake you do the same," I told him still smiling. As I started to hang up I heard him say "And Bella?"

"Yes Jake?"

"I'm really looking forward to seeing you on Friday," He responded very smoothly

"I'm looking forward to seeing you too, Jake," I replied. I realized how true that statement was when the butterflies starting dancing in my stomach again.

"Bye Bella," he said

"Bye Jake. Talk to you later," I replied and hung up the phone.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed to my office with a smile on my face. I powered on my computer and started working on my menu for Thursdays catering event.

_**Bella's Catering Company**_

_**Menu**_

_**Appetizers**_

_Stuffed Mushrooms_

_Party Pinwheels_

_Artichoke Dip_

_**Main Course**_

_Pork Loin Stuffed with Spinach_

_French Spring Soup_

_Lemon Orzo Primavera_

_Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms_

_**Dessert**_

_Panna Cotta_

Once I completed the menu I printed it out, put it in a folder and placed it on my living room end table along with my grocery shopping list. I finished getting dressed and grabbed my keys to head out the door to Kinkos. It was so beautiful outside today. It was the end of May in Chicago and the weather was finally starting to warm up.

Once I arrived at Kinkos I placed my order with the pimply-faced teenager behind the counter and let him know I needed the menus by noon tomorrow. Once that task was complete I headed to my store downtown stopping to get breakfast on the way. As I approached my neighborhood grocery store I looked at the clock in my dashboard, it read 10:00 am. I completed my errand early and now I had time to stop in the grocery store to get the ingredients on my short shopping list before I met Alice for lunch. I pulled into the parking lot and grabbed a great spot right in front of the store. As I got out of the car and closed the driver side door I noticed a man getting in his car on the far side of the parking lot and I froze. My heart was pounding. _Was that? No. It couldn't be. That looked like him, but he got in the car so quick I can't be sure. No, that wasn't him. Geez Bella! Get a grip! You've been thinking about the man so much lately you're imagining him. _I tried to convince myself that I had not seen Edward get in his car and drive away as I proceeded into the grocery store.

I walked the aisles of the store very distracted. So distracted that I passed right by items on my shopping list more than once. As I stood in the freezer section, as much as I was fighting the impulse to reminisce, my mind wandered and I was back in my college dorm room 4 years ago.

"_Edward, what are you saying?" I exclaimed, "I thought we were going to try to make this work! I thought you loved me!"_

"_Bella I do love you, more than you can imagine but I have to own up to my responsibilities as a father. I can't let Tanya do this alone, this is my child too," Edward explained to me calmly, too damn calm for me. He was breaking up with me going away to try to make it work with Tanya for the sake of his child. _

"_How you can say you love me when you're leaving me? You don't love her! You promised that we could work it out. I'm willing to stay with you and watch you raise a child with another woman, because I love you that much," I shrieked through tears._

"_Bella, that's why I have to leave, I've hurt you enough. I can't bear to look in your eyes everyday and see the hurt I've caused. To see you watch me raise a child that's not yours......not ours? It would only cause you to resent me in the long run. I can't do it. You're young and have so much to look forward to; I don't want my problems to turn into yours. I want you to live and have fun. Be with someone who doesn't have this huge responsibility on his shoulders. Bella I love you too much to do that to you," He said softly tears falling from his eyes._

"_Don't you think that's my decision Edward? Don't do this…please," I pleaded with him_

"_I'm sorry Bella. I gotta go. I love you." Edward said sounding completely defeated as he walked over to me and kissed me on my forehead._

_With that, he walked out of my dorm room and out of my life._

"Excuse me?" a woman said breaking me out of my trance. "Can you please hand me a bag of green beans?"

"Sure," I grabbed the green beans for her and continued to shop while trying to wipe away the thoughts of the last time I saw Edward. Once I was done gathering the items from my shopping list, I checked out and headed to my store. By the time I arrived at the store and put away my groceries it was time for me to head out to meet Alice.

"Hey Rose?" I called for my assistant. "I'm going to meet Alice for lunch, I should be back by 1:30." Rosalie walked in from the front of the store, her long blond hair swaying from side to side. Rosalie was a very beautiful woman; she was tall and lean and had a figure any woman would die for. We met in college and she joined my company the year after I got it up and running. Rose was like my right arm, she helped me keep my company running smoothly with her keen business sense. I don't know what I'd do without her.

"Okay. I'll see you later," Rose responded "Tell Alice I said hello".

"Will do. See you in a little bit," I said as I walked out the door.

On my walk to meet Alice I kept replaying the incident at the grocery parking lot trying to see it more clearly in my mind hoping to prove to myself that I really didn't see Edward but I still couldn't be absolutely sure. When I arrived at the restaurant Alice was already waiting for me at a booth in the back of the very crowded restaurant. I walked to the booth and as I reached her, Alice stood up to give me a hug. "Hi Bella! How's your day going?"

"Hey Alice. My day's been fine, productive so far. How's yours going?" I asked as I embraced her.

"Great. I've been busy all morning working on three wedding gowns I'm designing," Alice replied just as the waiter approached us to take our order.

I ordered chicken enchiladas and Alice ordered a taco salad. The waiter took our orders and promised to be back soon with our drinks.

"So what's the good news sis?" I asked Alice interested in latest gossip.

"Well," Alice began with the biggest smile on her face, "Jasper and I are expecting a baby!"

"Oh, Alice that's great!! I'm so happy for you two! I'm going to be an Auntie!!" I exclaimed so excited for Alice. She's always wanted a baby; actually she's always wanted a set of twins.

"Yes! Jasper is so excited. I'm about 8 weeks along, the baby is due at the beginning of January." She explained elatedly. "Jasper and I had been trying for months and now finally we're going to have a baby!" She saw the look of surprise on my face and said "I'm sorry for not telling you we were trying to conceive Bella. I just didn't want to jinx it."

"I understand Alice, no big deal. I'm just so happy for you," I replied sharing her excitement about the news.

"I'm so excited! Well now that I have spilled the beans, it's your turn," Alice said with a smirk on her face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I replied no clue as what she was talking about.

"Come on what happened on Sunday with Jacob? Spill it!" She said anxiously

"Nothing happened. We had lunch at my place and caught up a bit. Then I went with him to view a home in Old Town. Afterwards he came back to my place and we watched a movie and ate pizza," I explained

"BOR-RING! Come on Bells did he try to kiss you??? Got any more dates planned?" Alice said fishing for dirt that wasn't there.

"No he didn't try to kiss me Alice! We're just friends," I replied and then reluctantly told her "We're meeting up for dinner on Friday, which by the way is NOT a date. Just two old friends sharing a meal"

"Whatever you say Bells. Just be sure to give me the blow by blow come Saturday morning," Alice said smiling at me

"Anyway, Rose told me to tell you hi," I told her changing the subject

"Oh? How's she doing? Are you still planning on making her a partner in your business?" Alice inquired curiously

"She's doing well. Yes, I still plan on making her a partner. I'll probably ask her sometime next month," I answered and made a mental note to schedule and dinner meeting with Rose soon.

"Cool. Have you heard from Emmett lately?" Alice asked. Emmett is our stepbrother; he's four years older than Alice and seven years older than me. He is a professional football player for the Chicago Bears. He played overseas for a few years and then was drafted to the Bears who he's been playing with for about three years now. Charlie met Emmett's mother just after he was born and they were married less than a year later. I'm not exactly sure why they broke up but Charlie officially adopted Emmett not long after he was born and when he left Emmett's mother Elizabeth he took Emmett with him.

"Yes, I talked to him last week. Have you told him about the pregnancy yet?" I asked Alice

"No. I talked to him last week as well, but I wanted to tell you first. Jasper will be in town in a couple of days, I think we'll sit down and tell him together," Alice responded

"Cool. All four of us should get together when Jasper gets to town," I suggested

Alice and I continued to chitchat while we finished our lunch and by the time we were done I forgot all about the incident at the grocery store. At 1:15 I headed back to the store. Rosalie was in the kitchen cooking up something that smelled great when I walked through the door.

"What are you cooking? It smells awesome," I told her

"Oh just trying out a new soup recipe. Want to try some?" She asked

I grabbed a spoon and tasted the soup "Yummm! That's delicious! We need to serve that at the next catering event."

I finished up the work I had to do at the store while chatting with Rose and then headed home for the day before traffic got crazy.

When I got home I pulled off my shoes and changed into something more comfortable. I checked my voicemail and email messages and then I put my Joss Stone CD in the CD player. I grabbed a glass of wine and sat down on the couch to relax. Whenever I listened to Joss Stone's music I got swept up in it and just let my body and mind relax. I grew sleepy after a while and fell asleep right there on the couch.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to my beta, Dawn! Please read and review!! I love to hear what you guys think about my story. Your reviews keep me inspired!**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Jake called me every morning throughout the rest of the week to let me know I was on his mind and to wish me a good day. It was very sweet of him and made my anticipation of our date grow more. My week went smoothly, the catering event went great, I passed out a lot of business cards and made quite a few potential business contacts. Alice suggested that we go to the spa before she left to go back to New York and I agreed. She was at my door bright and early Friday morning raring to go. I took a quick shower, threw on a pair of comfy pants and a t-shirt and we were on our way. Alice claimed she scheduled our spa date Friday morning because that was the only time she was available, but it didn't get past me that she was conveniently free the morning of my date with Jake. I decided not to bring that point up and just enjoy our time at the spa. We both got our hair and nails done and got great full body massages. I have to admit I really needed it, I've been so busy with work, I haven't had the chance to really lay back and relax. Our spa date really couldn't have happened at a better time. After we were done, I decided to run by my store since I was right around the corner to check on Rose and return a few calls for potential catering events.

When I arrived at the store, I saw Rose in the kitchen taking inventory. "Hey Rose. How are you doing today?" I asked

"Hi Bella, I'm doing good; just taking inventory. I plan on running to Whole Foods later today to restock the pantry," She responded still busy sorting through the pantry. She finally looked up at me and said, "Your hair looks great Bella! Where'd you get it done?"

"Oh thanks Rose. Alice and I went to the spa around the corner from here and got our hair and nails done. We also got a full body massage that was absolutely awesome," I answered as I pulled the gift card I bought her from my purse and handed it to her. "Here's a little something for you. You've been such a huge help lately, I really wanted to show my appreciation."

"Thanks Bella! That was so nice of you! This is a perfect gift. I could really use some pampering," She said eagerly.

"No problem. I'm glad that you like it. If you don't plan on going anytime soon maybe we can go together," I suggested

"That would be great. I'll let you know when I'd like to go. Thanks again Bella," She responded very grateful.

"Cool. How many calls do I need to return?" I inquired

"The phone has been ringing off the hook lately. I put all your messages in the top drawer of your desk in your office. Looks like we'll be even busier this summer than we've been in the past. We may need to hire some more employees!" She said excitedly

"I'm definitely not complaining," I responded with a smile and walked to my office feeling really optimistic. I had worked so hard to get this business of its feet and all my hard work was really paying off. I decided that next week I'd take Rose to dinner and make her an offer to become a partner. She's been a tremendous help to me and the business wouldn't be doing as well as it was if not for her help.

I made my calls and finished up a few administrative things and headed back home. When I got there, there was a bouquet of beautiful flowers and a medium sized white box sitting in front of my door. I picked them up, unlocked the door and went into the house. I walked into the kitchen and put the flowers on the table. There was a card attached to the bouquet and it read

_Bella,_

_I can't wait to see you this evening. Hope you like your gifts. I'll be by to pick you up at 6:00 pm. _

_Jake_

I opened the box and pulled out a long, beautiful black dress. It had spaghetti straps and embroidered lace in the front. Ok, maybe our plans for tonight were a little more than two friends getting together for dinner. As I read the card again it started to sink in that Jake saw me as more than a friend. _Wow_. I think Jake is a great guy. He's gorgeous, funny, smart, and just an all around decent guy. He's a great catch; but I can't help asking myself if I'm really ready for a relationship right now. Am I ready to move on from Edward? Can I ever love another man as much as I loved him? I have to be honest with myself; I still love Edward, I don't know when or even if that will ever change. I've gone on plenty of dates since Edward but this is the first instance where I'm going on one with someone that I like and genuinely care about. I'm willing to try to make a connection with Jake, a deeper connection than just friendship; I just hope it doesn't backfire.

I looked at the clock and it read 3:00 pm, just enough time for a quick nap before I started to get dressed. I took the dress into my bedroom and hung it in my closet. I set the alarm on my cell phone to 4:15 pm and climbed onto my bed. In no time I had drifted off to dreamland. I dreamt of a beautiful meadow with gorgeous purple, yellow and pink flowers all over. The sun was shining bright and there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky. As I started to walk through the meadow it seemed as if I'd been here before, it seemed so familiar to me. Then I realized this was the first place Edward had kissed me. All of a sudden Edward and I appeared across the meadow sitting under the oak tree and our first kiss played out in front of me.

Edward and I were talking, telling each other about our lives and discussing our plans for the future. After I'd been talking for about five minutes, Edward looked at me and said, "Bella?" causing me to look up at him "I've been sitting here listening to you talk, and although I hear every word you're saying all I can think about is kissing you."

I felt my cheeks go red as I blushed and asked, "Well what are you waiting for?"

Taking that as permission, Edward leaned down as I felt my heart beat faster and grasped my face between his soft hands. He looked me in the eyes and brought his lips to mine kissing me so tenderly I could have cried. He pulled away and I opened my eyes to see him staring into mine intensely, he brought his lips back to mine and kissed me slowly. He opened his mouth and traced my bottom lip with his tongue and I opened mine in return as the kiss deepened. The kiss turned from being delicate and tender to rough and passionate as he kissed me harder caressing my cheek with his palm. My fingers were suddenly fisting his wild bronze hair as I kissed him back feverishly. I had never felt such passion and want in my life. I had never been kissed like this before, his kisses were sending shivers through me and igniting parts within me that I didn't even know existed.

As I watched our kiss from across the meadow I heard music in the distance, it was very quiet but was becoming louder as the seconds passed. As it got louder it started to sound more like a chiming and I realized it was my alarm clock. Suddenly I was back in my bed reaching for my cell to shut the alarm off. I sat up and went into the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror, looking at my slightly disheveled hair and big brown eyes and became very angry at myself. _Dammit Bella!_ Whenever you make the slightest fucking progress and take a step forward you take two steps back. I'm not going to mess this up! I'm going on this date with Jake and I will enjoy myself. I'm not going to think about Edward during our date or after! After scolding myself, I grabbed my toothbrush and began to get ready for my evening with Jake. I brushed my teeth and put on my shower cap to take a nice hot shower. I got out, dried off and applied my lotion. I took off my shower cap and went to the mirror to smooth down my curls. I walked into my bedroom and put on my black strapless bra and lace black thong underwear. The thong was a necessary evil tonight; it would be a crime to show panty lines in this beautiful black dress. I sat down at my vanity -a gift from Alice of course- and applied my makeup as best as I could. I did a decent job for someone who never wears makeup. I sprayed on my perfume and glanced at the clock to see how much time I had left. It read 5:40 so I decided to go ahead and put my dress on now. I grabbed my black clutch purse and threw my keys, ID, debit card and lip gloss into it. I took one last look at myself in the full-length mirror and noticed the imprint of the top of my thong and made a last minute decision to take it off. I headed down the hall to the living room to wait for Jake.

As soon as I walked into the living room the doorbell rang and the butterflies began dancing in my stomach. I walked to the door and opened it to see Jake standing there looking like he just stepped from the pages of GQ magazine. He was so gorgeous. He had on a black suit with a metallic gray tie and matching shirt underneath his suit jacket. He looked me up and down and said, "Bella, you look absolutely stunning."

I blushed and said, "Thank you Jake. You look pretty amazing yourself."

Jake smiled and asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"I sure am," I told him as I grabbed my keys from my purse to lock the door on the way out.

Jake walked over to the car and opened the back door for me. He apparently rented a car and driver for our date; I was impressed that he went to so much trouble. I got into the car before Jake shut the door and walked around to the other side. He got in and as he did I got a whiff of his cologne mixed with his own natural scent and I damn near fainted he smelled so good.

"Your cologne smells wonderful," I told him trying not to sound like some lovesick school girl.

"Thanks, it's new. The quirky lady that sold it to me told me women would throw their panties at me once they caught a whiff because it smelled so good," Jake told me laughing

I giggle and asked, "How's that working for you?"

"Well, I don't know yet. Tonight's my first time wearing it and you haven't disrobed yet, which is a little disappointing," He said jokingly

I thought to myself if I was wearing any they might've come off the minute I smelled him. I smirked at that thought and said, "Takes a little more than cologne for me to go there."

He smirked and I could almost see a thought he was having rolling around in his head, I didn't dare ask what he was thinking about, not if I wanted to keep my cool around him. This conversation was already heading into dangerous territory.

"So where are we going?" I asked curiously attempting to escape the danger zone.

"To this steakhouse I've heard so much about. They're supposed to have the best steaks in Chicago. After dinner I have a surprise planned for later in the evening," He responded sneakily.

We arrived at the restaurant and Jake got out and opened my door. He was such a gentleman when he wanted to be. We walked into the restaurant and it had absolutely stunning décor. The lights were low and all of the tables were far enough apart that they all seemed to have they're own private areas. The host seated us toward the back of the restaurant in a round booth where there was only one table near us. The waitress came over and asked us what we'd like to drink and Jake ordered a bottle of red wine.

"This restaurant is impressive so far Jake, if the food is as good as the atmosphere I'd say we're in for a treat," I told him very impressed at his choice of restaurant for our first date.

"I'm sure it will be," Jake responded confidently.

"Oh, I almost forgot thanks for the dress Casanova," I said jokingly

"You're welcome, it was my pleasure. I knew it would look good on you," He told him and then his facial expression turned serious as he thought for a minute before he spoke. "Bella, in all honesty, I'm not trying to be just your friend. I've been interested in more than your friendship for quite some time and now that I'm finally confidant enough to pursue you I plan on doing just that. Are you ok with that?"

Wow. Talk about being put on the spot. Just then the waitress came back to deliver our bottle of wine. She asked, "Are you ready to order?"

"I've actually gotten some recommendations on what's good here, do you mind if I order for you?" Jake asked seeming a little unsure.

"Sure Jake. Thanks" I replied with a smile glad that he'd asked if he could order for me instead of just doing it without my permission. That would have really rubbed me the wrong way.

Jake placed our orders with the waitress and she walked away. Jake poured us both a glass of wine and looked at me expectantly.

The damn butterflies were back with a vengeance. I took a sip of my wine before I spoke. "Jake, I appreciate you being honest with me. I have to be honest with you as well. I haven't been in a relationship in a very long time. My last relationship ended abruptly and although it's been over four years and as much as I'd like to; I can't say that I'm completely over it. With that said, I'm willing to give this a try with you, if you're willing to accept that I have a little baggage."

I sat holding my breath while Jake seemed to take in all of my words. Suddenly a big smile spread across his face as he said, "I can work with that."

The dinner was excellent. Jake and I talked and laughed and had a really good time together. The date was going really good and I definitely liked the man that Jake had become during our separation. After we'd finished our dinner the restaurant seemed to transform. The waiting staff began moving the tables off to the side of the room and the restaurant began to fill up. Jake noticed me looking around trying figure out what they were doing and he said, "Now for my surprise."

Totally clueless, I looked at Jake and asked, "What's going on?"

"Well at about 8:30 this restaurant turns into a salsa club," Jake said smiling at me

"What? Jake you know I don't know how to dance!" I exclaimed "You are _not_ dragging me out there."

"Come on Bella! It'll be fun. They have instructors and everything. We can move at our own pace. How do you know you can't dance if you don't try?" Jake said slyly trying to convince me that this was actually going to be fun. "I promise I won't let you fall or make a fool of yourself. It will be fun, trust me"

"I don't know about this Jake." I said incredulously.

Just then the music started playing and people moved to the dance floor. Jake climbed out of the booth and reached out to grab my hand. _What the hell?_ I took his hand and followed him to the dance floor. He turned to me, slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close. He grabbed my right hand with his left and began to sway his hips attempting to lead me in the dance. He smelled so damn good. _Why did I object to this at first?_ An instructor came over as Jake was leading me and he tried to teach me how to move my hips in sync with Jake's. After a while I actually wasn't doing too bad. As long as Jake kept his strong arm around me I was fine. We danced for a while and laughed and talked some more while on the dance floor. Because the music was so loud I had to lean in to Jake and speak directly in his ear for him to hear me. Every time he leaned in to answer me and I felt his breath on my neck shivers went through my body. Jake's voice was deep and sultry and it was doing strange things to my body. I'm sure that having three glasses of wine over the course dinner didn't help the matter.

After dancing for a while Jake and I went back to our booth and sat down next to each other. Suddenly very aware of my body and his, I turned my head and looked up into Jake's eyes, they were slightly hooded and filled with lust. Jake brought his hand up to my cheek and lowered his lips to mine. As soon as our lips touched, my body was lit on fire. Jake was an amazing kisser. He kissed me softly and sensually as I brought my arms up and around his neck. The kissed seemed to last forever and when we finally pulled away we both were breathing a little harder.

I sat back into the both attempting to right myself when I heard Jake say, "That was even better then I'd expected." He looked at me with a deep yearning in eyes.

"Yes, it was pretty great," I said, surely looking much like he was at the moment.

I poured us the both another glass of wine and we sat back in silence leaning against one another.

It was midnight when we finally left the restaurant and headed to my place. I was nervous, and tipsy and horny all at once. When we arrived at my house I asked Jake if he'd like to come in for some coffee and he agreed quickly.

I told him that he could have a seat on the couch while I went to get our coffee. As I started to walk toward the kitchen I felt Jake snake his arms around my waist from behind pulling me back against his solid body and he pressed his soft full lips against my neck. I gasped in surprise and excitement at his gesture. He turned me around and pushed me up against the back of my door. He crushed his lips into mine and kissed me with such passion it almost buckled my knees. His hands felt like they were everywhere, in my hair, up and down my body and it was driving me insane. I felt his hardness against the bottom of my stomach and yearned to stroke it. It had been so long since I'd been touched like this that I wanted nothing more than to rip our clothes off and let him take me right there my living room floor. As I felt his hand moving to lift up my dress, I stopped him, it took everything I had in me to stop him but I did. "Jake stop. Lets not do this now. We're both very tipsy and I don't want this to move too fast."

Jake shook his head agreeing breathing heavily in my ear. "It's too soon and I don't want to rush you. When you finally decide to give yourself to me I want you to be absolutely sure," He said as he gained his composure.

"You still want that coffee?" I asked him still breathing a little heavy.

Jake shook his head yes and I headed to the kitchen to make our coffee. When I came back into living room Jake was sitting on the sofa his head back with his eyes clothes. He had loosened his tie and took his jacket off. He looked so sexy that I damn near dropped our coffee mugs and pounced on top of him, but I maintained control and walked over to hand him his coffee mug.

We drank our coffee and upon finishing I walked Jake to the door and wished him goodnight. "Goodnight Jake. I had a wonderful time tonight. I'll give you a call tomorrow."

Jake said goodnight and leaned down to give me a quick kiss on my lips. He walked to his car as I shut and locked the door and headed to my bathroom for a nice cold shower.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to Dawn, my wonderful beta.**

**WARNING: Major Lemon ahead!**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.**

**Please Read and Review!!!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

My phone rang at 9:00 am Saturday morning while I was still in bed. I rolled over and looked at the clock and then the phone. I knew who was on the other line without looking at the caller ID. I groaned and reached over to my nightstand to pick up the receiver, "Good Morning, Alice," I said sleepily, wishing she could have at least waited until 10:00 to call digging for dirt.

"Morning Bella!" Alice sang into the phone "How are you feeling this fine morning?"

"Cut the bull Alice, go ahead and fire away," I said not in the mood to pretend we both didn't know why she called this morning.

"Well, I guess you didn't get lucky last night or you wouldn't be so grouchy. Or maybe you did get lucky and it was terrible. Which would be really sad, considering the package--"

"Alice, I did not sleep with Jake last night," I said cutting off her rambling.

"Well dish!" She demanded impatiently

I sat up fully awake now and relayed my night out with Jake to Alice. I left the details out about Jake and I nearly ripping each other's clothes off in my living room. I did tell her that we kissed at the restaurant though.

"So how was it? Is he a good kisser? I bet he is with those beautiful full lips. Come Bella! Give me details!" Alice pleaded

"Yes, Jake is a great kisser and a very good dancer," I replied not going into further detail.

"Ok, Bella you really are getting on my nerves trying to be coy. Come on now _dish_!!" Alice exclaimed

"Ok, ok," I said not being able to hold it in any longer. "Jake is a fantastic kisser. When were dancing at the restaurant, the way he moved made me wonder if he could move as well in bed. I invited him in for coffee once we got to my house after leaving the restaurant. He came in and we kind of attacked each other." I told her excitedly as I remembered last night. "I stopped it before it went too far though. We were both very tipsy and I didn't want to regret sleeping with him in the morning. I want my mind to be perfectly clear when I go there with him, if I go there with him."

Alice was quiet for a minute and then she just burst into a giggling fit. "You, miss goodie two shoes, invited Jake in your home and damn near jumped his bones?? I can't believe it!" Alice teased "I'm so happy for you Bella. I'm glad you've finally met someone with some potential!"

"Slow down Alice." I warned her. "It was just our first date, we're taking this slow and seeing how it goes."

"Well, you have more self control than me. After four plus years of celibacy, I think I would have tried to rape him in the restaurant," Alice said giggling

"Who said I've been celibate?" I teased her in the most serious voice I could manage.

"Bella!! Have you been holding out on me?? Do you have some side piece I don't know about??" Alice said as she feigned outrage

"I'm just messing with you. Unfortunately I really haven't had sex in over four years. I can't believe I had enough self control to stop him, Lord knows I really wanted to go there with him but I couldn't. I didn't want to screw things up by sleeping with him so fast," I said with a little disappointment in my voice, because I really wanted to jump Jakes bones as Alice put it.

"I understand where you're coming from. Good girl," Alice said and laughed

"Well, let me get up and get dressed. I have a Pilates class at 11:00 today," I told her getting up from my bed.

"Okay," Alice said "Oh, I almost forgot. I spoke to Em and we're going to meet up next Thursday for dinner. Are you free?"

"Hold on a minute, let me go get my date book," I said as I got up and headed to my office. I checked my schedule and saw that I was completely free. "I don't have anything on my calendar for Thursday, so it's a date."

"Good because after next week I won't be back to Chicago for at least 3 weeks. Oh, and invite Rose. It's been a long time since we've gotten together." Alice said cheerily

"Ok, I'll give her a call later today. I'll talk to you later," I told her as we said our goodbyes and hung up the phone.

I headed to the bathroom to take a nice hot shower and get ready for my Pilates class at Women's Workout World. When I was done getting dressed, I grabbed my gym bag, cell and keys and headed out the door. Once I arrived at the gym and parked my car, my cell rang. I looked at the caller ID and it read Jake. A smile spread across my face as I answered the phone. "Hello"

Jake's smooth voice came through the other line "Hi beautiful. How are you today?"

"I'm doing well. How about yourself?" I asked still grinning like an idiot

"I'm good. Do you have plans for today?" He inquired

"Well, I'm actually heading in to Women's Workout World right now to take a class but I'm free after that. What did you have in mind?" I asked him intrigued

"Since it's supposed to be 80 degrees today, I'd thought it would be fun if you and I went to the beach." He suggested eagerly

"Sure that sounds like fun. My class is only 45 minutes long and I'm right around the corner from my house so I should be ready to go around 1:30," I said elated that he wanted to see again so soon.

"Cool. I'll meet you at your place around that time. Oh, and I also wanted to let you know how much fun I had with you last night and I'm definitely looking forward to taking you dancing again," He said smoothly.

"Surprisingly enough I'm looking forward to going dancing again myself," I responded

"I knew you'd enjoy it." Jake declared, sounding very sure of himself.

"I'm glad you suggested it. Well I'm going to head inside the gym now, I'll see you at about 1:30." I told him.

"Ok see you then. Bye," Jake said ending our call

I got out of my car and walked into the gym with a little extra pep in my step. I was excited to see Jake again this afternoon. I made a mental note to make a stop in the store around the corner to grab a swimsuit. Its been so long since I've been too the beach I don't think I have a swim suit that fits me anymore.

After I completed my class and stopped at the clothing store to purchase my swimsuit, I headed home to take a quick shower before Jake arrived. As I was stepping out of the shower I heard the doorbell ring. I grabbed my robe and hurried to answer the door. Jake stood in my doorway looking scrumptious in long blue shorts and a white t-shirt that clung in all the right places. He looked slightly surprised at my appearance and as I was giving him the once over I almost forgot I was standing there in nothing but my robe. "Come on in. I just got out of the shower. I'll just be a minute." I explained a little embarrassed as I closed the door behind us.

Jake turned around to face me and said, "You know Bella it's hardly fair to surprise me like this. I came over here determined to be on my best behavior and you come to the door in nothing but a thin robe. You're really killing me," he said looking slightly pained

I laughed and said, "Sorry Jake, you got here faster than I expected."

Jake came closer to me, wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned down to kiss me on the lips. I'm sure he intended it to be short and sweet, but he lingered a little bit and when he finally tried to pull away, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a long, slow, sensual kiss. I don't know what had gotten into me, it was my idea to take this slow but seeing him and feeling his body against mine just lit a fire inside of me. Jake kissed me slowly and brought his hand up into my wet hair. I brought my hands down from his neck and began to run them up and down his strong, muscular arms. Without warning, Jake palmed my ass while still kissing me and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he walked us to the couch. He was kissing me with such intensity and passion it made my body tremble with burning desire and I felt the moisture increase between my legs beneath my robe. He laid me down on the couch and untied my robe with a hungry look in his eyes. He opened my robe to reveal my breasts and grasped them with one hand as he went back to kissing me fervently. When he grazed my nipple with his palm he drew a deep long moan from me. One hand moved from my breast down to my center and as his finger slid between my folds as I moaned with pleasure. He moved from kissing my mouth to my neck. He planted soft kisses down my neck, along my collarbone and then brought his face up to my ear and whispered, "Bella, can I taste you?"

I think that's sexiest shit anyone has ever said to me and I felt myself grow wetter at the anticipation of his tongue replacing his fingers. Unable to speak, I simply nodded. Jake lifted himself up from me and moved down until his beautiful face was between my legs. My head fell back and my mouth fell open as his tongue found my center. He licked me in long, soft strokes and then short harder ones as my breathing became labored. He licked and sucked until I found myself on the verge of an orgasm. Seeming to sense that I was close, he slid two fingers into me to stroke my g-spot as he sucked my clit. I arched my back and exploded within seconds, his name falling from my lips. I relaxed back into the couch truly spent.

Jake placed small kisses from my stomach all the way up to my lips. I opened my eyes to meet his, which were now hooded with lust. I grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him slowly as I motioned for him to sit up. He sat up with his back against the couch and I straddled his lap. "Talk about unfair, I'm sitting here naked while you're still fully clothed," I said wanting him badly.

Jake smiled and pulled his shirt off. His chest and abs looked as if they were chiseled from stone. His brown skin was smooth with the same red undertone that was present in his face. He had a small, thin patch of silky black hair in middle of his chest and more at the bottom of his belly button leading down into his shorts. I heard Jake laugh lightly as I ogled his body. I couldn't help myself. The man was simply beautiful. Jake cleared his throat and I stopped starring at his chest to bring my eyes to his.

"I'm starting to feel like a piece of meat," He said jokingly.

I laughed, not at all embarrassed. I was too far gone to be embarrassed. "I'm sorry for staring Jake, but I just can't help it. Your body is gorgeous"

"Thank you," he said sensually.

I brought my hands up and placed them on his broad shoulders as I leaned down to kiss him. He responded and began rubbing his hand up and down my thighs. He pulled away from the kiss and said, "Are we ever going to get to the beach today?"

I looked at him a little surprised and asked, "Do you seriously still want to go to the beach?"

"Well, I had us a nice picnic planned and was very anxious to see you in a bikini. Although this view is much better," He said glancing down at my breasts. "I didn't kiss you here," he said bringing his fingers to stroke my center again and whispered in my ear "just to get you to sleep with me. I just couldn't help myself. I'm perfectly fine with waiting until you're ready."

I tried to get my composure back as he took his fingers from between my folds. "Jake, we've known each other for years. I know that you care about me and I care about you too. Its not like I have to worry about you sleeping with me and never speaking to me again," I rationalized and paused. I thought about the situation and how I really felt at the moment and decided that I did want this. I wanted him just as bad as he wanted me right now. I leaned down and pressed my forehead against his and said softly, "I want you Jake." I could hear his breath hitch as soon as I said the words. He lifted his head and kissed me hard, bringing his fingers back into my folds and stroking me slowly. I broke away from our kiss and buried my head in the crook of his neck. I moaned softly into his neck as he slid his finger into me. He whispered into my ear, "Bella, I can't wait to be inside you." I moaned loudly and crushed my lips back into his. I broke away from the kiss after a while and pulled his fingers from inside of me. I stood up, grabbed his hand and led him to my bedroom.

Once inside my room I stood in front of him and pulled down his shorts along with his boxers. I was surprised by my forwardness; I guess four years of celibacy will do that to you. He stood there naked before me and I just had to take a step back to enjoy the view. His body was absolutely amazing. I walked around to his strong beautiful back and placed kisses along his back working my way around to his front leaving a trail of wet kisses. His length was standing straight out in front of him and it was just as beautiful as the rest of him. He had to be packing at least 9 inches, which frightened me just a little but I knew Jake would take his time with me. Jake picked me up and laid me onto the bed. He climbed over me and began to kiss my breasts and suckle my nipples causing me the writhe and moan below him. He moved his lips to my neck and began to kiss and nibble. Suddenly he stopped and said in my ear, "Damn! I don't think I have any condoms on me."

"Oh. I don't have any either. I'm on birth control, and haven't had sex in the last four years. I've been tested for STDs and have a clean bill of health. You?" I said quickly not wanting to stop what we'd started.

"I was tested 6 months ago and all was well," he replied placing kisses along my neck

"Well I'm ok with it if you are. I trust you Jake," I said to him.

With that said he went back to kissing me and I felt him spread my legs apart. His length rubbed against my wetness causing almost unbearable friction. I was practically aching to feel him inside me. Then I felt him at my entrance, he pushed inside of me slowly inch by agonizing inch. I moaned into his ear as he pushed the rest of his length inside of me and began to work me with long slow strokes. He buried his head into the crook of my neck and moaned in my ear with each movement. My nails grazed down his back as he worked me. He brought his mouth to mine and pushed his tongue into my mouth as his length drove deep inside me. This man moved with such purpose on top of me and it felt amazing. He grabbed my hands and brought them above my head and pinned them down by my wrists. He began to thrust into me faster and harder as my moans became louder. Unintelligible words and expletives flew from my mouth as my body became one with his. I felt my orgasm building slowly inside me, it was coming closer with each stroke of pleasure he gave me. As he pumped me harder I felt myself on the edge; he gave me one last long hard thrust and I exploded with a name flying from my lips.

I lay there with my eyes closed, body sweaty and totally satisfied. I felt his body grow stiff on top of me and as opened my eyes I saw this shocked look on his face. I look at him totally confused, "What's wrong?"

His look of shock turned into anger and then hurt as he asked me, "Who the hell is Edward?"

"Huh?" How the hell did he know Edward?

He pulled himself out of me and got up from the bed, he turned to look at me and asked again, "Who's Edward? You just yelled out Edward." Jake looked so hurt.

_Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Bella what hell are you thinking?? Stupid!_ I stuttered not really knowing what to say or how to make this right, "Jake, I...I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Who is he?" Jake's hard voice said cutting me off.

"He was my boyfriend. Edward was last guy I was with. The relationship I told you about. Jake I don't know why I said his name. I wasn't thinking about him while were having sex, I swear I wasn't," I said insistently with panic in my voice.

"Are you still in love with this guy?" Jake asked appalled. "You must be if you're screaming his name while _I'm_ making you cum!"

"I told you that I wasn't really over that relationship Jake," I said in an attempt to defend my actions.

"Yeah, you did but I wasn't expecting that," Jake said as he sat down next to me.

"I'm sorry Jake," I said softly "I don't want to hurt you. I don't know if I'm still in love with Edward or if I just miss the relationship. Jake, Edward was the only man I'd ever slept with. The relationship we had was important to me, it was the only real relationship I've ever had. I guess I never let it go. He was my first love, Jake."

Jake was quiet for a minute and then spoke softly, "Bella, do you want this? You and me I mean? Do you really want to try to be with me? Please be honest with me. "

"Until very recently I thought about Edward constantly and I know you are the reason why those thoughts have started to fade. Yes, Jake. I really do want to make this work. I want to be over Edward and start a new relationship with you," I answered as honestly as I could.

"Well be sure this is really what you want. I can't be with you if you're wishing I was someone else," Jake said seriously looking into my eyes. "I can't put myself through that, I won't put myself through that."

"Please Jake just give me another chance. I promise that it will never happen again," I pleaded with him. The thought of him ending this relationship before it really had the chance to begin made me realize how much I really did want Jake to be in my life. I wanted to have a relationship with him.

"Talk about wounding a man's ego," Jake said with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. A moment later his face turned serious as he looked at me and said, "Bella, if that ever happens again I'm out of here. I'm not going to let myself fall for you any harder if you can't love me back."

"I understand," I told him trying to keep a serious look on my face as excitement bubbled in my stomach at the thought of him giving me a second chance.

"Good. Now lets work on your little problem," Jake said with determination as he swiftly pushed me back onto the bed and was on top of me in seconds sliding himself into me with such force my eyes rolled to the back of my head. As he thrust into me he whispered into my ear roughly, "How does that feel?"

"Good. So good," I answered back just above a whisper

He whispered into my ear again, "Who's making you feel like this?"

"You are," I told him raising my voice as he thrust into me harder.

"I can't hear you. Who's making you feel like this? Tell me!" He said as he pushed his length deeper into me.

"Ahh...ahhhh...you are Jake. You are," I whimpered into his ear.

"That's right. Don't you ever forget it," Jake said as he continued punish me with his dick.

We went on for what must have been hours with Jake making me scream his name over and over again. By the time Jake finished with me we were both exhausted and completely satisfied. Jake rolled from on top of me to lie on his back. I looked up at him and said, "That was amazing."

He smiled down at me shaking his head in agreement and I lifted my head to give him a kiss. I laid my head on his chest and before I knew it I had fallen asleep smiling from ear to ear.

______________________________________________________________________

When I finally woke, I glanced out the window and saw that the sun had set. I turned over and to face Jake and look at his gorgeous sleeping face. I really wanted to make this work with him, I wanted to be able to let go of my past and move on with my life. Most of all, I didn't want to hurt Jake. He'd been missing from my life for so many years and I hadn't realized just how much I missed him until he returned. I really didn't want to lose him again.

I got up from the bed; ready to jump in the shower, as I stood up I looked back at Jake and saw that he was awake. "Where are you running off to?" He asked.

"I was just going to take a shower," I answered

"You mind if I join you?" Jake asked with a smirk

"As long as you promise to be good," I told him, feeling sore from the wonderful punishment he gave me earlier.

"Well what's the fun in that?" Jake stated with a pout.

"If you would have taken it easier on me maybe I'd be able to handle another round," I said with a smirk.

"Well, I'll just give you a longer recovery time before our next session," He said with a short laugh giving me a quick flashback of last night's 'activities'

"On second thought I think I'll take a bath. I need to soak in hot water," I said as I walked toward the door. I turned to look over my shoulder at him and said, "You coming?"

"Definitely," Jake said with a devilish look on his face as he got up from the bed quickly and followed me into the bathroom.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to my beta, Dawn you are awesome!**

**WARNING: Lemony goodness below**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers**

**Please read and review!!!!!**

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**Chapter 7**

Jake and I stayed up late Saturday night watching movies and talking with each other. We planned to see each other later in the week. I made dinner plans with Rose on Wednesday night to make her an official offer to be my business partner. It took me a really long time to get used to the idea of taking on a partner. I'd put so much work into getting my company off the ground I couldn't picture sharing it with anyone else. I finally decide to extend the offer to Rose because she's put a lot of work into my company, almost as much as I have. She really cares about the business and I could tell that she really loved her work. She's the only person I could imagine as my partner.

I met Rose at the restaurant at 6:00 pm, she looked stunning as always in a short black cocktail dress with black strappy heels. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and her makeup was flawless. She was already seated at a table in the back and was sipping on a glass of wine.

"Hey Rose," I said as she got up and gave me a quick hug. "You look great Rose! I suddenly feel underdressed."

"Oh, don't. You look fine. The only reason I'm dressed up is because Angela set me up on a blind date tonight," She responded grimacing as she said the words blind date.

"Blind date huh? I can see you're excited about that. You look great though. I hope the guy is up to your standards," I told her

"I hope so too. I only agreed to it because she kept bugging me about it. She said he was really cute and had a great job. He doesn't have any kids and has never been married. We'll see," She said sounding apprehensive about the date.

"Well hopefully it goes well," I told her sincerely. The waitress came over to take our orders and left quickly after we placed them.

"I invited you to dinner tonight because there's something I'd like to talk to you about," I started nervously. "You've been with my company from almost the beginning. You know the business well and have helped me so much over the years. I don't know if my company would be in the position its in now without your help. You've investing a lot of your time and energy into the company and I really appreciate you so much Rose."

"Thanks Bella," She said smiling as if she was flattered.

"I've decided that I want to make you a full partner, 60/40 split on everything. You truly deserve it and I couldn't imagine running my company without you," I told her excitedly.

"Wow. Bella I'm speechless," Rose said a little teary eyed " I'm glad that you have this much trust in me and know that I always have the company's best interest at heart. Bella, I'd love to be your partner."

"Oh Good!!! I'm so happy you accepted! In the last year the company has made so much progress. I have a feeling that we're going to have plenty of business coming our way and I know I'm going to need you now more than ever," I said elated that she'd accepted my offer. "I'll have my lawyer call yours tomorrow so they can work out all of the details. I'm so excited!"

"Me too! I have a great feeling about this," Rose replied big smile on her face.

I raised my glass to her with a smile. "A toast to our new partnership and many years of success." Rose met her glass with mine and we both took a sip of our wine.

"Now that the business is out of the way, we can have girl talk. Besides the blind date how's the love life?" I inquired.

"Dating sucks! In the last month I've been on three dates. Not one of the guys held my attention for more than ten minutes. Two of them were guys that I'd met in the grocery store of all places and the third was a blind date that a friend of mine set up. They were just uninteresting and seemed threatened by me. One of them even wanted to get into a pissing contest about who knew more about cars. The only reason I'd brought up cars in the first place was because I'd thought it would get him to talking more because I was carrying the whole conversation. Its just tiresome, I really wish I could meet someone that was secure with himself and wants the same things out of life that I do. I'm sorry to vent, feels good to get it out though," Rose said chuckling lightly.

"No worries! I know what you mean trust me I totally understand. The dating scene can be so frustrating, that's why I hadn't dated in so long. If I hadn't known Jake before hand I'm not sure I would have agreed to go out with him," I told her honestly

"Oh, yes Jake. I didn't realize you knew him before you guys started dating. How's that going? Bella, he's absolutely gorgeous by the way. What's his ethnicity? He looks like he could be Spanish or Native American," She guessed curiously

"He's Native American. It's going really good actually. He's such a sweet guy. We were best friends growing up but he moved away to attend college in Washington. His job brought him back here," I quickly gave her the run down smiling the whole time

"Judging by the huge smile on your face, I guess it is going _really_ well," Rose teased

The waitress came with our food and as we ate we chatted about the business and our personal lives more. Once we were ready to head out I reminded Rose about our dinner plans with Alice, Jasper, and Emmett tomorrow night. She assured me she'd be there and we hugged each other goodnight as we left.

When I got home I noticed a package in front of my door, I didn't remember ordering anything and knew it had to be Jake that left the package. I picked it up and headed into the house. I checked my messages and there was one from Jake telling me that he'd left a surprise for me and to call as soon as I opened it. I sat down on the couch and excitedly tore open the package. I reached into the box and pulled out a beautiful red and black satin teddy. There was a small white envelope with a card inside, it read:

_Bella,_

_Something nice and naughty for you, if you're anything like I remember I'm sure this is your very first piece of lingerie. I hope to see you in it soon._

_Jake_

Lingerie.....I didn't know how I felt about this gift. I've never worn a piece of lingerie in my life. The teddy itself was very beautiful, but I'm not sure how beautiful it would be on me. I think I have a pretty nice body but this tiny piece of material would show all of my flaws. I had a feeling this gift was more for him than me. I guess I could give it a try and hope I don't look too ridiculous in it. I threw the box the teddy came in into the trash and took the lingerie to my room to hang it up. I think it's going to take a while for me to work up the courage to put that on.

I pulled off my clothes and hopped in the shower. When I got out I put on my pajamas and grabbed my cell as I got into the bed. I dialed Jake's number, he answered on the second ring. "Hi beautiful"

"Hey Jake. How was your day?" I asked feeling butterflies flutter in my stomach.

"It was good," He replied "How was yours?"

"It went well. I offered the partnership to Rose at our dinner this evening and she accepted. I'm so excited. I think with her help my company, well _our_ company will really take the lead in the Chicago Catering world," I answered him enthusiastically.

"That's great Bells. I'm so happy for you. So, did you get my gift?" He asked slyly

"I sure did, it's very beautiful Jake. How'd you know my size?" I questioned

"Well last time I was there, I took a peak in your closet to find out your size, " He confessed and then asked, "Have you tried it on? Does it fit ok?"

"Actually no, I haven't tried it on yet. You got the correct size, so I'm sure it'll fit just fine," I said still a little nervous about the idea of wearing it.

"Good. I can't wait to see you in it," he said flirtatiously "and I really can't wait to take it off of you."

"Oh really?" I asked turned on at the thought of him undressing me.

"Yeah. So tell me Bella what do you have on now?" Jake asked libidinously

"No no no, not going there tonight. I have a busy morning ahead and I need my beauty sleep," I told him quickly

"Well I could always come over there and put you to sleep, if you'd like. Won't take me but 10 to 15 minutes to get there. You'll be asleep in no time after I arrive," Jake suggested.

Damn this man for being so sexy! "You kind of make it hard to refuse. You sure you can make it here in 15 minutes?" I asked returning his flirtation.

"Be there before you know it," Jake said quickly and hung up the phone.

Jake arrived in twelve minutes and was inside of me five minutes after he arrived. I was fast asleep twenty minutes later.

My alarm went off at 6:00 am; I rolled over, turned it off and rolled back over towards Jake. He was rubbing his eyes and stretching, as he did, the cover slid off of him to reveal his stone chest all the way down the hair peeking out from the top of his groin. I had to get up now or I'd never make it in to work today. When I tried to get out of the bed, Jake put his arms around my waist and pulled me back into the bed against his naked body.

"What are your plans for today?" He asked his voice still groggy from sleep

"After work Rose and I are meeting Alice, Jasper and Emmett for dinner," I told him

"Oh, really? How are Alice and Emmett doing? I can't even remember the last time I saw him." He said

"Oh Emmett doing really well. It's actually been a while since I've seen him myself. Football keeps him so busy. Alice is doing good too she just found out she's pregnant," I said and thought that maybe I should invite Jake to dinner with us. I'm sure Emmett would be glad to see him again. "Hey, would you like to come to dinner with us tonight?"

"Sure. It will be good to catch up with Emmett and Alice," he answered enthused.

"Cool, it's a date. Now Jake, I really have to get up and get dressed. Rose and I have a busy day today," I told him not really wanting to move from the warmth of his body.

"Are you sure you have to get up right now?" He whispered into my ear as he slid his hand across my breast and down to my center.

My breath hitched before I managed to say, "Jake. I really have to get dressed. I don't want to make Rose wait for me."

"Fine. Can I at least join you in the shower?" Jake asked with a fake pout

"Sure, if you promise to be good and have me out of the house by at least 7:00 am" I told him conceding just a little bit.

We both got up and got into the shower. Who knew I could bath, wash my hair, squeeze in an extremely satisfying quickie and be out the door in an hour?

Rose and I pulled into the parking lot of the store at the same time. We both parked, got out of our cars and walked into the store together. Our plan for today was to try out some new recipes and update our catering menu at the store. As soon as we got settled we both got to work on our recipes. "So how was your date last night Rose?" I asked her as I poured rice into my boiling water.

"It was ok, the guy was pretty cute. His name is Eric and he teaches English at the University of Chicago. He actually lives close to you in Hyde Park. He was able to keep the conversation going and actually seemed to _listen_ to what I had to say. I think there will be a second date," Rose said seeming optimistic.

"Good. I'm glad you met someone with some potential. I hope everything works out," I told her cheerily.

"Me too. I'm so over dating, if this doesn't work out with him. I'm definitely taking a break from the dating scene," She replied with an exasperated look on her face.

"I can't blame you. I have to warn you; tonight Alice may have some tricks up her sleeve. You know my brother Emmett is coming to dinner with us tonight right?" I asked her, and when she nodded, I told her "She might try to do some match making with you two."

"Oh great now I'm going to have to be in date mode. I thought were just getting together to have a fun relaxed dinner tonight," Rose said a bit exacerbated

"Don't worry, Em's a fun guy. He'll make you feel relaxed; you can't help but have fun when he's around. I just wanted to give you the heads up," I told her in an attempt to ease her anxiety.

"Good. I really can't deal with another dating disaster. Is Jake coming with us tonight?" She asked curiously

"Oh, yeah I asked him about it this morning and he'd said he definitely be there," I stated with a smile remembering the shower with him this morning. "Do you want to catch a ride with us to the restaurant?"

"No thanks, I have some errands to run after we leave here and I'll just meet you guys at the restaurant," She answered "When did you have time to call Jacob this morning?" She teased me with a sly smirk.

"Well, I didn't actually call him this morning," I said trying to hide my smile "He came over last night and stayed the night."

"Oh really. Well, well, well you sure didn't waste anytime," Rose said giggling

I couldn't help giggling with her. "Well its not like Jake was a stranger, I've known him for years," I defended myself. "And Rose, it had been _four_ long years."

Rose's mouth dropped open at my confession. "Wow Bella, _four_ years? Well I don't blame you. I'm surprised you lasted this long. I would have been all over him the first night"

"Well at least I lasted until the second date," I told her with a guilty smile on my face

She laughed and said, "Bad, bad Bella! Ha! Well how was it?"

"Awesome. Well worth the wait," I confessed

We gossiped and giggled like schoolgirls while we went about cooking. After we finished cooking and taste testing we said our goodbyes and headed out. I got home around 5:30 pm.

I took a quick shower to wash the food smell off of me and got dressed for dinner. Jake called me at 6:15 to let me know he was on his way. I talked to Alice earlier in the week and we decided to go to the Steakhouse that Jake took me to on our first date. I had to admit I was excited, I'd had so much fun the first time I went I just knew I would have an even better time with Alice and the rest of the crew. Jake arrived just as I was putting on my shoes. I grabbed my purse and met him at the door. "Hey Jake, you look nice," I told him practically gawking at him. He was wearing black slacks and a nice gray button down short-sleeved shirt.

"So do you," He said eyeing my short blue dress cocktail dress. He took my hand as we walked towards his car. He opened the car door for me and before I could get in he pulled me to him and gave me long slow kiss. He whispered in my ear, "I can't wait to get you back to my place tonight."

His voice sent shivers down my spine. "I can't wait either but I don't have any overnight clothes with me."

"Don't worry about that, I got you covered," He assured me. I got in the car and he walked around his side to get in.

When pulled up to the restaurant Jake gave his keys to the valet driver and as we walked into the steakhouse Emmett was standing inside flirting with the host. As soon as I saw him I bolted towards him, "Emmett!" I yelled his name as I jumped into his big arms.

"Hey shorty!" He said excitedly as he hugged me tightly. "Its been entirely too long since we've seen each other."

"Yes, it has. You look good!" I told him as he put me down. Emmett was a huge guy, he was about 6'6 and a solid 250lbs. He had short, dark curly hair, big blue eyes and the deepest dimples you've ever seen. "Guess who's here?" I said as I turned to look at Jacob.

"Hey Jake!" Emmett greeted Jake and extended his hand for Jake to shake. "It's been a long time since I've seen you. How have you been?"

"I've been good. It's so good to see you man. Glad that your doing well, I make sure to watch your games whenever I can," Jake told Emmett as he shook his hand

"Thanks bro. So how's life treating you?" Emmett asked him

Jake looked at me and smiled then turned back to Emmett and said, "Life has been extremely good to me, getting better by the day."

Emmett seemed to notice the silent exchange between Jake and I and said, "What's that about? You guys dating now?"

Jake answered before I could, "Yeah we are. Its still new but you know I've liked Bella since we were kids."

"Yeah I know. Well good for you two!" Emmett said smiling at the both of us.

"Emmett you knew Jake like me and never told me!" I accused shocked that he knew.

"Bella everyone knew except you. How you were so totally oblivious to it is beyond me." Emmett said rolling his eyes.

"Well thanks a lot!" I growled and punched him in the arm. I looked up at him expecting him to grab me and rough me up a bit but he was staring towards the door of the restaurant with a look of total awe on his face.

I turned around to see Rose walking into the restaurant and smiled. She had on a royal blue dress that flared at the bottom and beautiful shoes to match. I waved her over and when she spotted me she headed towards us.

Emmett turned to me and quickly asked, "Bella, you know her?"

"Yes, Rose is my business partner and friend. She's having dinner with us tonight," I told him smiling

Rose gave me a hug as she reached us. "Hi Bella!"

"Hi Rose. You remember Jake and this is my brother Emmett," I said turning towards Emmett

Emmett took her hand, placed a kiss on the back of it and said, "Nice to meet you Rose". Rose looked at first surprised by his gesture and then a little embarrassed as she smiled and said, "Nice to meet you Emmett."

Alice and Jasper walked in just then looking gorgeous together. Alice was decked out in a beautiful crimson red dress that stopped just above her knees. Jasper had on a pair of nice dark grey slacks with black button down shirt. Alice walked over to Rose and gave her a big hug. "Rose it's so good to see you. It's been too long since we all got together. You remember my husband Jasper right?" Alice said looking between Rose and Jasper

"Yes I do remember him. How are you Jasper? Good to see you again." Rose greeted Jasper

"I'm doing good. It's good to see you too," Jasper replied

As everyone finished the introductions I called the host over to let him know that our party was complete and we were ready to be seated. He led us to a table near the back of the restaurant. The waitress approached us soon after and took our orders. As soon as the waitress left, our table erupted into chatter and after a while I noticed Alice staring at me as if she was trying to figure something out.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked her

She looked over towards the guys and saw that they were involved in some kind of sports debate. She leaned in towards me and said, "You look a lot more relaxed since I saw you last and you have a little glow about you. Did you get some?" Alice asked me with a dead serious look on her face

Rose heard her and burst into giggles.

"A lady never tells," I teased

"Oh my God, you did. Didn't you??" Alice asked excitedly.

I look towards the guys again to make sure they weren't listening before I answered her. "Yes and it was absolutely magnificent!"

"Bout damn time!!" Alice said sending Rose and I into a fit of giggles

Jake leaned in towards me and asked, "What are you ladies laughing at?"

"Oh, nothing just a little girl talk," I told him with a sly smile

He shrugged his shoulders and went back to talking sports with Jasper as Alice, Rose and I burst into another giggling fit. Once we had settled down I heard Emmett say to Rose, "So how long have you worked with Bella?"

"We've been working together for about three years now," She answered

"I'm surprised we've never met. I definitely need to stop by the store more often," He said subtly flirting with Rose.

"Maybe you should," Rose replied flirting right back. _Go-ahead Rose!_

The waitress came back with our food and we all dug in continuing to chat amongst each other. Alice ran down Emmett's resume to Rose in between bites. Alice was forever playing matchmaker. Rose seemed interested though, so maybe this wasn't such a bad idea.

Jake kept trying to slip his hand up my dress during dinner and I kept smacking it away. As we were finishing up dinner the restaurant began to transform as it did the first time Jake and I came here. More people began to trickle in as the wait staff cleared the dance floor and the music began to play.

Emmett got up from his seat after the waitress came to cleared our tables and asked Rose if she'd like to dance. She accepted and got up from her seat as Emmett led her to the dance floor. Alice and Jasper were right behind them leaving Jake and I alone at the table. Jake pulled me close to him when everyone left; he leaned down and planted a long, soft kiss against my lips. "I've been waiting to do that since we sat at the table, did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?"

This man definitely knew how to make me feel special, "Yes, I think you may have mentioned it." I said smiling "You want to go dance?"

"Sure." Jake and I got up and joined the others on the dance floor.

I looked around at everybody as I danced with Jake and noticed that everyone seemed to be having such a good time. I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun, I had my friends and family and this wonderful new man in my life. Things were definitely starting to look up for me.

By the time we left the restaurant everyone was sweaty and had lustful looks in their eyes. With all the bumping and grinding everyone did on the dance floor I'm not surprised, something about salsa music was so sexy. Jake handed his ticket to the valet driver and while we waited for our car we said our goodbyes to everyone. I noticed Rose giving Emmett her phone number as he input it into his cell, both of them smiling like they'd just won the lottery. I'm glad that they hit it off so well, Emmett needed a good woman in his life and I couldn't have picked a better one for him myself. Our car arrived and we jumped in and headed to Jake's place. He'd closed on the condo in Old Town this past week and was very excited about moving in a few weeks. We arrived at his apartment in five minutes flat. It was a twenty-five story building and was immaculately decorated on the inside. Jake lived on the fifteenth floor his apartment was beautifully decorated. He had black leather furniture in the living room and a huge flat screen TV mounted on the wall. Before I got the chance to take in the whole room Jake grabbed my hand and led me to his bedroom. He had a king size cherry wood sleigh bed, a matching cherry wood chest, armoire, and nightstand. As we stepped further into his room I noticed a large walk-in closet and a master bath off to the right of the closet. On the far left side of the room was a brown suede love seat. "Jake you have a really nice place" I told him impressed.

"Thanks Bells, can't say that I'm sad to leave though," Jake said as led me towards the bed. "Would you like a glass of wine?" he asked

"Sure." I replied with a nod

"Have a seat on the bed, I'll be right back," Jake gestured toward the end of the bed as he left the room.

I took my heels off and started to climb on top of Jake's bed. As I did I decided I was feeling brave tonight, I got back on my feet and slipped my dress off. I got back on his bed wearing my red strapless bra and matching thong. When Jake walked back into the room and saw me laying on his bed in just my underwear his facial expression changed quickly. His eyes became hooded and I could almost see his breathing grow slower as he took in the sight on his bed. He walked toward me and set the two glasses of wine on his nightstand. He started to climb on the bed and pull himself on top of me but I stopped him he looked a little confused but stopped and laid down on his side. I got up and straddled him "I want to be in charge tonight," I told him

His eyes grew even lower as I said that. I began to slowly unbutton his shirt and I bent down to place kisses against his skin as I undid each button. He sat up slightly so that I could take his shirt all the way off and when he laid back down I continued to place kisses against his chest. I swirled my tongue around his left nipple and as I did he moaned softly. I repeated the same pattern on his right nipple. I let my tongue trail down the center of his chest to his belly button. Jake attempted to bring his hands into my hair; I looked up at him and said, "No. Keep them behind your head, I told you I'm in charge tonight."

Jake obeyed and put both of his hands behind his head with a tortured look on his face. I brought my lips back to his hard stomach and began to lick his belly button. I sat up to unbutton and unzip his pants. I pulled them down along with his boxers right below his knees. I planted soft kisses and slow licks up and down his thighs, his moans giving me ammunition to do more. I've only performed oral sex once on Edward but he, at my request was kind enough to tell me how to do it. I was about to see if I retained that information. I grabbed the base of Jake's shaft causing him breathe in quickly between his teeth. I licked from the base all the way up to the head of his penis and then sucked just the head into my mouth. I sucked on it softly feeling more and more confident as Jake began to moan louder and softly chant my name. I quickly moved my mouth down the length of his shaft making him moan even louder. I began to bob my head up and down his length swirling my tongue around his penis and stroking him with my hand at the same time.

Jake's will power broke as he took his hands from behind his head and tangled them in my hair. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and began to push my head up in down his shaft making me moan with him. When he began to push faster I knew he was close to his climax and I pushed as much of his length into my mouth as I could fit. Hot liquid shot down my throat and I swallowed every drop. Jake untangled his hands from my hair and relaxed back onto the bed. I climbed back on top of him, straddling his lap and bent down to place soft kisses along his chest. I felt him shifting his legs back and forth and looked down to see him pushing his pants off. I went back to kissing him and he reached around my back to unsnap my bra. He pulled it off letting my breast fall free and he tugged at my underwear. I lifted myself off of him long enough for him to remove them. Before I straddled his lap again I told him in a husky voice, "Sit up and scoot back against the head board."

He complied and I moved back into position. I leaned forward and gave him soft, quick kisses on his lips he returned them with a hunger that aroused me even more. I let my tongue trace along his bottom lip before I pushed it into his mouth and gave him a hard, rough kiss. I began to grind against his length causing Jake to moan and breathe more frantically. He reached up to grab my breasts in his hands and as I thought about stopping him in an attempt to remain in control, I found I couldn't bring myself to. His hands felt good against my skin and he was turning me on so much as he lightly pinched my nipples. In between our kisses Jake moaned to me, "Bella. I can't wait to be inside you." He moved from kissing my mouth to my neck and then to my breasts. He drew my nipple into his mouth causing me to moan and writhe on top of him even more. He lifted his head back up and whispered in my ear "Bella, stop teasing me. I know you want to feel me inside of you as much as I do." I whimpered, my determination to tease him until he lost control quickly dissolving.

"Jake tell me how much you want me," I whispered back

"Bella, I want you so bad. I want to make you cum. I want to feel you cum on my dick," He whispered roughly in my ear. Without warning he grabbed my ass, pulled me forward and lifted me up and down onto him. I moaned loudly and began to move up and down on top of him. Jake let out low guttural noises as a rode him. "Fuck. Bella you feel so good."

I whimpered and moaned and cursed as my speed increased and his grip on my ass tightened. "Jake. I.. I... I'm about to..._cum_," I screamed as an orgasm overtook me. My head dropped back and my mouth fell open as I panted and waves of pleasure took over me. When I recovered, I laid my head on Jake's shoulder as he slowly rubbed his hands up and down my back. "I like it when you're in control" Jake breathed into my shoulder.

I giggled lightly and looked up at him, "I'm glad, because I think I like being in control" Jake put a hand on each side of my face and pulled me into a long slow kiss.

"I'm really starting to fall for you Bella," He professed as he pulled away from our kiss. I tensed up a little bit. I didn't know what to say. I was really starting to like Jake and I definitely enjoyed his company but I just wasn't there yet.

"I know you're not in love with me yet. That's ok, I just wanted you to know how I feel about you," Jake told me seeming to sense my anxiety.

"Jake, you know that I love being with you and that I like you a lot. It's just going to take a little more time for me," I told him gingerly hoping that I didn't hurt his feelings

"Bella, its ok. I understand. I think I'm just falling for you faster because of the feelings that have always been there," He said reassuringly

I just shook my head and kissed him softly on his lips. As I kissed him I felt him grow hard inside me again. He kissed me with more passion as he began to move inside of me.

Round 2.

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**A/N: I know you guys are patiently waiting on Edward's appearance in the story. He will appear soon, I promise. Your reviews are like crack, please feed my addiction!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to Dawn my amazing beta!!!!!**

**WARNING: Lemon ahead!**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.**

**Once again people your reviews are like crack, please feed my addiction!**

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**Chapter 8**

Jacob and I were off to a great start. We'd been dating for about a month and a half now and I think everything has been going really great. The sex was absolutely fantastic. He's really taught me a lot in that area and I've started to become more comfortable with my sexuality. It's been two weeks since he hinted that he was in love with me, I haven't told him that I loved him but he says he's ok with it. I find that hard to believe though. I'd be horrified if I told him that I loved him and he just said, "_Well I like you a lot Bella, but I'm not in love with you._" I just don't feel that way about him yet. I guess I just needed more time. We fit together in so many ways, but I hadn't fallen in love with him yet. Ever since he told me he loved me I've been evaluating and re evaluating our relationship over and over again. I know I should just let nature take its course. I can't make myself fall in love with him, either it will happen or it won't. But what if it doesn't? Ugh! I need to just relax. I banished the thoughts of our relationship from my head walked over to my nightstand to answer my ringing phone. "Hello"

"Hey sis!" Emmett's loud voice rang through the receiver, "How are you doing this morning?"

"Hey Em! I'm good. How are you?" I sang happy to hear from him.

"Good. I called to invite you to my July fourth bash this weekend. Did you and Jake make any plans?"

"No. Jake is actually going out of town at the end of the week. He's attending a few training seminars in Washington. I'll definitely be there though," I told him happily

"Good. I have a favor to ask and some news to share with you. Wouldn't you love to whip up a few appetizers for the party?" he coaxed

"I don't know. How many people are going to be there? If you needed me to make some food for you why didn't you tell me this earlier Em? You always wait until the last minute." I fussed exasperated by his procrastination.

"Geez Bell, don't chew me out. I just want a few things, not anything big. I'll be saving most of it for myself anyway. All I want are a few of your favorite appetizers. Just make enough for me then, please?" Emmett begged.

"I guess I can make a few things just for you. Why didn't you ask Rose? I'm sure she'd love to. How's that going anyway?" I asked sneaking that last question in.

"I did ask her, I figured between the two of you I'd have enough," He confessed releasing a short guilty chuckle "Things between Rose and I are great actually. Why didn't you introduce me to her earlier? You could have saved me a lot of heartache Bells."

"Oh yeah right Em, who has _ever_ made your heart ache?" I guffawed at his supposed heartache.

"Good point," He said laughing, "On the news, my biological brother contacted me last week and we got together for dinner. He seems like a pretty decent guy. I'm glad he had the balls to contact me because I'd been holding onto his number for an entire year and hadn't built up the courage to call him."

"Oh wow Emmett. That's big. How did he find you?" I asked in shock

"He hired a PI to find our mother, Elizabeth. The PI found our mom and also discovered that she had another son. He just moved back to Chicago and decided to reach out to me. He was adopted and grew up here but moved to California right after college. I invited him to the party so you, Alice, Jasper and Rose will get the chance to meet him," Emmett explained

"So do you like him? What's his name? How old is he?" As I rattled off question after question I heard a voice that sounded like Rose's calling Emmett's name in the background.

"Hold on a sec Bells," Emmett said. I heard him muffle a response to Rose before he got back on the line "Hey Bella I'm on my way out the door. Call me later and I'll give you all the details.

"Ok. I'm so happy for you Emmett. I'll call you later tonight," I told him as I hung up the phone. I was extremely happy for Emmett and I couldn't wait to meet his brother. I know growing up he'd always wondered about his biological mom. A year ago when Emmett called to tell me that he found both her and a brother he didn't know he had I was so happy for him and I encouraged him to call. He told me that he found out that his mother was an alcoholic and was into drugs. I think that kind of scared him off from getting in contact with his brother. I guess he didn't want to be disappointed again. When I asked about his brother he didn't even want to tell me his name, he said he'd tell me about him if or when he contacted him.

After I hung up the phone, I hopped in the shower before Jake arrived. Jake and I had plans to spend the day together. He was going out of town in a couple of days and we wanted to squeeze in as much time together as possible before he left. He had to go to Seattle to participate in and conduct some training at a few stores in that area, and he also planned to visit his father for a week. Jake's father, Billy lived in a small town a few hours away from Seattle. Jake planned to be gone for about three weeks and I definitely was going to miss him. I decided that I was going to finally wear the teddy he bought for me tonight in an effort to make tonight special since he'll be gone for so long.

The temperature for today was supposed to be eighty degrees so Jake and I decided to go to the beach to swim and maybe play volleyball. I'd made up some sandwiches and a big fruit salad earlier this morning to take with us. After I took my shower, I spread on some sun-block and put on my bathing suit with a thin cotton dress over it. I slid my feet into some flip flops and headed to my front room. Jake was ringing the doorbell seconds after I'd gotten our lunch packed. I opened the door and saw my beautiful man standing there in a white t-shirt and long dark blue swimming trunks. "Hey beautiful. You ready to go?" He asked as he bent down and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

"Hey. Yeah, just let me grab our picnic basket and my bag and I'm ready," I said as stepped back to let him in.

"You get your bag and I'll get the basket. Where is it?" He asked me

"On the kitchen table," I replied pointing towards the kitchen. Jake grabbed the basket, I grabbed my bag and we headed out the door to the beach.

There were tons of people at North Avenue beach today. There were plenty of volleyball nets setup along the beach and it looked like there were a few competitions going on. Just as I began to worry that we wouldn't find a nice shaded spot to have our picnic I spotted a couple packing up there things getting ready to leave. I hurried over to the spot before anyone could claim it with Jake on my heels. "Good catch Bells!"

"Thanks. Hand me my bag so I can spread out our blanket," I requested

"Here you go," Jake said handing me the bag. "I'm going to see when the next game starts while you set up. Be right back."

"Ok." Jake walked towards the volleyball area to sign us up for a game. I secretly hoped that there were no available games because I really wasn't looking forward to playing volleyball. I'd much prefer to sit in the shade and enjoy watching him play. Jake came back over just as I'd finish setting our lunches out. "There's an opening to play in about two hours, you want to?" Jake asked as he sat down on the blanket

"Umm do I have to?" I asked him innocently, knowing I'd already agreed to play earlier when we spoke on the phone

"Are you trying to back out on me Bella?"

"Well I'd much prefer to eat our lunch, swim for a bit and ogle you while you play," I batted my eyelashes and stroked his ego in an effort to get out of playing.

"If you really don't want to then its cool with me," He conceded, laughing at me. "What's for lunch?"

"I made turkey and swiss sandwiches and a big fruit salad for us to share," I told him "I packed a few bottles of water as well."

"Sounds good. Let's dig in, I'm starving," Jacob said tearing into his sandwich.

After we ate we both laid back on the blanket and relaxed letting our food digest before getting into the water. I turned around to lie on my side against Jake; I laid my head on his firm chest and said, "You know, I'm really going to miss you when you're in Seattle."

He looked down at me. "I'll miss you too. You know, you could come meet me there and stay with me at my father's place. He'd love to see you."

"It would be good to see him too but you know I can't get away from work right now. Between next week and time you get back I have six catering events planned. I can't leave Rose alone to do all that work," I rationalized

"I know, I know. Well can you promise me something?" He asked

"That depends on what you want," I countered.

"Promise me that we will take a trip somewhere before the summer is out, even if it's just for and extended weekend. I know you have been extremely busy with work lately and you could use a good relaxing vacation. Best of all it will be my treat. What do you think?"

I thought about his offer for a minute. "I think it's a good idea for us to take a long weekend to go somewhere together but I won't let you pay for everything. You always pay. It's my turn to treat you."

"I don't think so. I'm not letting you pay for the vacation." He started and upon seeing the look of defiance on my face, he backtracked. "I'll let you pay for your plane ticket or _half_ of the hotel room, deal?"

"My ticket and one activity," I offered

"Deal." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my lips, "you ready to go for a quick swim before we, well before _I_ play volley ball?"

"Sure let's go." We both got up and stripped down to our swimwear, he took off his shirt and while I took off my dress. I put our clothes in my bag and we headed towards the water. The water was nice and warm as I treaded through it, I noticed a couple with two children playing in the water a little further down the beach. The kids looked like they were having the time of their lives. Their father keep dunking the kids under the water and they were all splashing each other and laughing together. It made think of Edward and his child. I wondered if he had a girl or a boy and if he was a good father. I wondered if he still thought about me as much as I thought about him. I suddenly became irritated with myself and pissed off at him. Edward was the reason I couldn't fall in love with Jake. I don't know why I couldn't just move past him. I wanted so badly to be able to love Jake the way he deserved to be loved. Just as the thought crossed my mind I felt Jake behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck. "Hey what are you thinking about? You looked zoned out."

"Nothing. I was just watching that family over there. They seem so happy," I told him

"Yeah, they look like they're having a good time. The kids are definitely having a ball." He looked at the family and smiled at them as they played. "Do you want kids Bella?"

I was taken off guard by the question but recovered quickly. "Sure. I'd always pictured myself having two kids, two little boys actually. How about you?"

"Yes, I definitely want kids. I want a house full of kids," He answered.

As we continued to watch the children play, Jake suddenly tightened his grip on my waist, lifted me up and threw me into the water. I screamed the minute I realized what he was getting ready to do but it was too late to fight him off as I splashed into the water. My head resurfaced from under the water sputtering and yelling at Jake "Jake! I'm gonna get you! I can't believe you did that!"

Jake was laughing hysterically as I yelled at him. I splashed him as I waded as quickly as I could towards him. He took off swimming towards the beach. "Get back here Jake! Come back here and take it like a man!" I shrieked at him

He kept swimming towards the beach. When he reached it he got out of the water, walked to our blanket and plopped down still laughing at me. I followed him to our blanket and sat down beside him. "You just wait, I'm gonna get you back when you least expect it," I threatened him giggling.

"I just couldn't resist, you should've seen the look on your face! Ha!" Jake sputtered between giggles.

"You just better watch your back," I warned him and asked, "Isn't it your turn to play in the next volleyball game?"

"Aww don't be mad Bells," He teased

"I don't get mad I get even," I told him

He shook his and laughed at me before he got up to play in the next volley ball game. I watched Jake play volleyball for a while and when he finished we gathered our things and headed to my place. The sun had tired me out so much that when we got to my house I fell asleep on the couch while Jake called his office to finish up some last minute business before he left town.

Jake sat down on the couch accidentally waking me. "Sorry for waking you, I'm pretty tired myself. I just got off the phone with my boss and I might have to go into the office for a few hours tomorrow to finish up a few things and have some boxes shipped to Seattle so I don't have to carry them with me."

"Oh ok. Well you can go ahead and take a quick nap if you want while I cook dinner," I told him getting up from the couch. I had a nice dinner planned for us. It was a gorgeous night so I decided that we would have dinner out on my patio. I was making baked rotisserie style chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. I'd made a cream cheese pound cake yesterday and we were having that with vanilla ice cream and strawberries for dessert.

"I think I will lie down for a while, but first I'm going to take a shower. You want to join me?" He solicited with a devilish grin.

I rolled my eyes at him and accepted his invitation. We walked towards my bedroom, undressed and got into to the hot shower. Jake grabbed my bath sponge and squeezed some of my shea butter body wash onto it and began rubbing it in slow circles against my body starting at my stomach. He moved from my stomach to right breast and then to my left. From there he moved to my back and then down my butt and legs. He turned me around and as he did I grabbed the soap. Once I was facing him began to wash him as he continued to lather me with soap. I ran the soap across his chest and hard stomach moving it in circles. Jake started moving closer to me causing me to step back until I was directly underneath the showerhead. He bent down and began to place kisses up and down my neck. I felt his length hardened against my stomach and the same time I felt slick moisture build between my legs. Jake's big arms squeezed me tighter to him and he began to drag his hands slowly down my sides sending shutters through my body. He brought his right hand to my center and slipped a finger between my slick folds causing my breathing to hitch slightly and then speed up. He rubbed me slowly and brought his hot mouth to mine. I ran my hands up and down his back and lightly raked it with my nails. He moaned into my mouth and quickly turned me around so that my back was against his chest. He pushed against my back lightly signaling me to bend over. I placed my hands against the wall to hold my balance as he entered me. As he did I heard him utter, "Fuck….Bella!" As he pushed himself in and out of me I moaned and chanted his name. He took one hand from my hip and reached around to rub slow circles on my bud. My breathing came faster and faster until I began to pant. My moans merged with his as he began to thrust into me faster and rub my bud harder. In between pants Jake grunted "Cum with me Bella." and after three more hard long thrusts my inner walls clenched tightly around his length. I felt hot liquid shoot into me and my wetness coated his length as I came shortly after. He pulled himself out of me as I stood up straight and turned to face him. He kissed my forehead, wrapped his arms around me and said, "I love you, Bella"

When he said it I didn't get the urge to run for the hills, my stomach didn't tighten from anxiety, and I didn't feel inadequate. I looked up into his beautiful brown eyes that shone with the love he felt for me and said, "I love you too Jake." And I meant it. I finally felt it and it felt good. He leaned down and kissed me slowly wrapping his arms around me tightly and we just stood there holding each other. We pulled away from each other after a while and washed ourselves off before we got out of the shower.

After Jake dried off he plopped his naked body down onto bed and got under the covers to take a nap. I threw on some cotton shorts and a tank top and went to the kitchen to cook dinner. After I prepared the chicken and put it in the oven to bake I setup our table and chairs out on the patio. I lit the four lanterns hanging from my patio and lit two candles on the table. After the patio was all set up I went back inside to make the mashed potatoes and broccoli. As I was finishing up and filling our plates to set out on the patio Jake came from the bedroom still naked and smiling.

"Hey what's for dinner?" He asked with a big grin on his face.

"Nothing if you don't go put some clothes on. We're having dinner out on the patio and while I enjoy the view, I'm not so sure my neighbors would," I told him

"I think they would." He winked and then walked into the living room to grab his overnight bag.

I smiled to myself at his silliness as I took our plates to the table. I went back into the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine and took it back outside to place it in the ice bucket. Jake walked onto the patio wearing green knee length shorts and a black ribbed tank top.

As we both sat down to enjoy our dinner, Jake observed the soft lighting and the table setting and commented, "Bella you did a good job with setting the mood. This all looks very nice."

"Thanks Jake." I said slightly blushing at the compliment

We ate our meal and chatted about the training he was going to participate in when he went to Seattle. He seemed to look forward to learning and taking on more responsibilities at work. This is the first chance he's gotten to actually conduct a training class. When he talked about visiting his father his eyes lit up, he was really excited to see him. Billy had moved back to his hometown of Forks, Washington when Jake went off to college. He was staying on a reservation called La Push with some of Jake's other close relatives and friends. I know Jake missed his father terribly; they always had a close relationship when he and I were growing up. Part of me wished I could meet him in Seattle to visit with his father; it had been years since the last time I saw Billy. He was a sweet man, very protective of his son. I had way too much work to go anywhere though.

After Jake and I had finished dinner and dessert, he helped me clean off the table and wash out our plates. I'd rented the movie '_Incredible Hulk'_ starring actor Ed Norton, Jake had been talking about it for weeks so I figured it would be a good movie for us to watch tonight. I put in the movie and we cuddled up on my sofa underneath a blanket to watch it. I wasn't sure if I'd like it but half way through the movie I found myself really enjoying it. Jake was definitely enjoying it, his eyes were glued to the television screen from the moment I pressed play. When the movie was almost over I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I decided to freshen up and put on the teddy Jake had bought me. I pulled my hair from the ponytail I'd put it in earlier and let it fall along my shoulders and down my back. I lit a few candles in my bedroom and lay on my back in the center of the bed propped up on my elbows. My stomach was twisted in knots, I felt really uncomfortable in my attempt to be sexy. Before I'd gotten the chance to chicken out and throw my shorts and tank back on I heard Jake walking towards the bedroom.

"Bella!" he called "you missed the ending. That was a really great...." he stopped mid sentence when he walked into the bedroom and saw me lying on the bed in his teddy.

His face held a mixture of shock, awe and lust. He walked towards the bed and said "Bella. You look beautiful." He climbed on top of the bed and stood over me on his knees. He leaned down and kissed me so passionately that all my nerves dissipated. He broke away from our kiss, looked into my eyes and said, "I love you Bella. I've loved you for so long. I'm so happy to have you in my arms and to know that you love me too."

I looked back into his eyes and said with a shaky voice, "I love you too Jake" His lips returned to mine and for the first time we made love.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks Dawn for your wonderful beta skills!**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.**

**Please read and review! **

**Now for what you've all been waiting for. :-)**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

I dropped Jake off at the airport early Saturday morning before heading into the store. When I arrived I saw that it was still locked up which meant that Rose hadn't arrived yet. I opened the door, turned on the lights and walked into the kitchen begin cooking. Emmett's party was tonight and Rose and I decided to meet at the store this morning to make the food we'd planned on bringing tonight. I gathered all of the ingredients to make my appetizers. As I was starting my dishes I heard Rose come through the door.

"Hey Rose!" I called

"Hey Bella. You started cooking already?" She asked walking into the kitchen.

"Yeah. I just got hear about 15 minutes ago," I told her as I continued to stir the spread I started.

"So what are you making?" She inquired curiously

"Buffalo Chicken Strips, Jalapeño Popper Spread, Brushetta, Barbeque Grilled Shrimp and Brown Sugar Smokies," I answered her "What about you?"

"Mango Salsa and Guacamole, Seven Layer Taco Dip, Chicken Caesar Salad and a Chopped Salad. Emmett decided to buy a bunch of meat to grill when he realized he waited too long to ask us to cater the whole party," She beamed as she talked about my brother.

"I don't know why he waits until the last minute all the time. That man is just hopeless," I declared "How is it going between you two? I've never seen Emmett this happy."

A big grin spread on Rose's face and she said, "Things are going really well actually. He's a great guy and not at all what I expected him to be like. The fame hasn't made him an asshole."

I laughed with her and said, "Yes, thank God for that. Charlie wouldn't let him become a complete jackass."

"Good for him. I really hope everything works out with Emmett and I because I'm really starting to fall for him. Hard," Rose confessed.

I couldn't help but smile. I was so tremendously happy for the both of them. "That's really great Rose. I'm so happy for the two of you. Had I known you and Em would hit it off so well, I would have introduced you two a long time ago."

We cooked our food and chatted about each other's relationship, Rose left out all of the sex talk because she knew that was the last thing I wanted to hear regarding my brother. I didn't tell her about my declaration of love for Jacob because..., well I don't know why I didn't tell her I just wanted to keep it to myself for a while. Once we were done, we both drove to Emmett's house in our separate cars to deliver the food. Emmett lived in a rich northwest suburb of Chicago; once you entered his community you definitely knew it. It was filled with huge houses and mansions. Expensive cars lined the streets and driveways. It seemed like everyone had their American flags sticking up from their lawns in celebration of the holiday. I pulled into Emmett's driveway that curved around the front of the house. I called him on my cell to let him know Rose and I were here and to have him come help us with unloading the food. I popped my trunk and got out of the car as Emmett and Jasper came from around the side of the house. "Hey Em, hey Jasper."

"Hey Bella!" They both said at the same time.

Emmett bent down and gave me a bear hug and then walked over to help Rose unpack her car while Jasper helped me unpack mine. "How are you doing Jazz? Where's Alice?"

"I'm good. I'm helping your brother grill; don't want him to burn all the meat. Alice is upstairs taking a nap. That's all she does now is sleep," He said almost too himself.

"Well pregnancy does that to you. Can you grab those two trays for me?" I asked him as I pointed him towards the big trays of appetizers. Jazz grabbed the trays and carried them into the house. I was right behind him with two smaller trays in my hands. Emmett's house was beautiful. He had a huge foyer with marble, beige and white floors, above was a huge glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling just below the wide winding staircase that let to the second floor. When I walked through the door I made a left to go into the kitchen. The kitchen was any chef's dream, he had all of the up to date appliances. He had two narrow glass walls that had running water cascading down the middle of them. All of his cabinets were cherry wood and he had black and stainless steel appliances. I set the trays on the island in the middle of the kitchen. Keeping the wings, shrimp and smokies wrapped in foil, put them in the oven and turned it on warm. I went back out to the car to grab the bag I'd packed a bag with my clothes and toiletries so that I could get dressed here, I also brought some overnight clothes just in case I didn't feel like driving home tonight. Emmett's house was a long drive from mine and I wasn't sure I wanted to make that trip twice today. I grabbed my bag and headed upstairs to peek in on Alice before I took a shower.

Alice was lying on the bed in the guest room sound asleep, I didn't want to wake her so I tip toed back out of the room and headed for the guest room on the opposite side of hers that had a connecting bathroom. I'd packed a sleeveless pink and white tube sundress that Alice bought me earlier this year. I didn't wear dresses all that much but I really liked this one and the weather today was perfect for it. I'd put the dress in a garment bag so that it wouldn't get wrinkled on the way here. I opened the bag, took the dress out and laid it across the bed once I got into the guest room. I unpacked my toiletries putting them on top of the chest dresser. I took out my underwear and carried them into the bathroom with me.

I heard a knock on my door when I got out of the shower. "Hey Bella its me, I'm coming in," Alice warned as she came into the room.

"Hey Alice. Are you well rested now?" I asked her

"Yeah I guess. I'm always so friggin tired. This pregnancy seems like its totally draining me," She grumbled as she sat on the bed.

"So when do you find out what you're having? You're going to find out right?" I asked her as I began to put on my lotion.

"The doctor's won't be able to tell until I'm about five months along. I definitely want to know. I need to know what colors to use to decorate the nursery," Alice stated smiling. She was absolutely glowing, pregnancy definitely suited her.

"You have a little bump already I see and you're glowing. I can't wait to meet my little niece or nephew. I know you and Jazz will be great parents." I told her excitedly

"Thanks Bells." She replied sweetly. "How long is Jake going to be out of town?"

"Three weeks. He'll be in Seattle on business for two weeks and then he's driving to Forks to visit his father for a week," I explained as I continued to get dressed

"Oh. Did he ask you to go with him?" She asked curiously

"Actually yes he did but Rose and I have a very busy summer ahead so I couldn't take the time," I reasoned

"Oh," She said with an odd look on her face. "Did Emmett tell you about his brother? He's supposed to be coming here today."

"Yeah he told me. I'm so happy for him and I can't wait to meet his brother," I said enthusiastically

"Yeah I'm happy for him too. What did Emmett tell you about him?" She inquired looking at me strangely.

"Not much. He just said he was a really nice guy and that he had a son. I was supposed to call him back that night that he told me about him but Jacob and I got carried away and I fell asleep," I admitted sheepishly. "Why?"

"Bella I need to talk to you about something, it's probably just a huge coincidence but what is Edward's last name?"

"Why?" I asked wondering why in the world she was asking about Edward now.

Alice opened her mouth to speak and Emmett came barreling through the door. "What are you guys doing up here? Come on outside! Women are so slow!"

"Thanks for knocking Emmett! You're lucky I was dressed!" I yelled at him

"Oh whatever." Emmett waived his hand dismissing me as he came over and grabbed my arm dragging me out of the room " Let's go downstairs. Come Alice! Mom and Dad just got here."

Emmett dragged me downstairs and out to his backyard. Alice was right behind us. There were at least twenty-five people scattered around Emmett's yard. I spotted my dad, Charlie and my mom, Renee sitting at one of Emmett's yard tables and walked over to say hi.

"Hey mom, dad," I greeted as each of them got up to give Alice and I hugs.

"Hey Bells!" Charlie said smiling "how are you feeling today?"

"I'm good. How about you?" I asked him with my arm still hooked around his waist

"Pretty good. Did you bring Jake with you?" Ever since I told my dad that Jake and I were seeing each other he hadn't shut up about him. He's always liked Jake and was thrilled to find out we were dating.

"No. He's out of town on business for two weeks and then he's going to visit his father for a week." I informed him

"Oh really? How's Billy doing?" My mom chimed in

"He's doing great. He's happy to be back with his family and friends in forks but he really misses Jake," I answered her and turned to my dad "You should call him sometime Dad, Jake says he always asks about you."

"I think I will give him a call. It's been too long since I've spoken to him," Charlie said thoughtfully.

"I'm going to go help Emmett bring out the rest of the food, I'll be back," I told them

I walked towards the kitchen and heard Emmett's booming voice in the foyer. It sounded like somebody else had just arrived and he was showing them in. I opened the oven and took out the appetizers and was arranging them on plates when Emmett and his guest walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Bella, I want you to meet my brother Edward," Emmett said

I lifted my head from what I was doing and looked into the face of Emmett's brother Edward. I stopped breathing. Emmett's brother Edward was _my Edward_. What kind of sick joke was this? This is _not_ happening. I felt light-headed and had to put both of my hands on the counter to steady myself.

"Bella? What's wrong you don't look so hot?" I heard Emmett say. I couldn't focus; my heart was pounding so hard I felt like my chest was going to crack open under the pressure. This is totally fucked up. This has to be some kind of sick twisted joke. Edward, _my Edward_ could not be Emmett's brother. I felt hands on my shoulders and heard Emmett say, "Bells, what's wrong? Are you ok?"

I got my composure together enough to look up at him and say, "I'm fine. I just felt a little dizzy, I haven't eaten all day."

I looked back into Edward's face. He was staring at me intently with a look of concern on his face. He didn't look at surprised as I felt; maybe he was just better at hiding his emotions. He opened his mouth and said in his deep, smooth melodic voice "Hi Bella. How are you?"

I tried to steady my breathing long enough to respond "Hi Edward. I'm fine. How have you been?" _I think I'm having an out of body experience_.

"I'm good," He responded staring at me with those intense beautiful green eyes. _God he looks good._

Emmett had been looking back and forth between us and seemed to notice the familiarity between us. "Hey, you guys know each other?" He asked looking totally confused

Not taking his eyes off me, Edward said to him, "Bella and I knew each in college, we dated for a few months."

"Oh. Well this is definitely _not_ weird," Emmett said sarcastically

We all just stood there staring; Edward looked as if he wanted to say something but kept quiet. "Okay, well I'll start bringing this food outside," Emmett said breaking the silence and hurried out to the backyard with three trays of food.

I went back to putting the appetizers on the dishes in front of me. I heard Edward clear his throat and then he finally spoke "Small world I guess." When I didn't respond he asked, "Do you need help with that?"

"No thanks, I can handle it," I told him quickly. I couldn't talk to him right now. I needed some recovery time, where the hell was Alice. Shit! I continued to place the appetizers on the plates in front of me with my shaking hands. I felt him walk closer to me until he was right beside me at the counter.

"Bella..." He started but then became silent.

I'd wish he'd just leave before my knees gave out. Alice where the hell are you? Save me please! Just as the thought entered my head Alice walked into the kitchen. "Hey Bells, you need some help?" She asked before noticing Edward. "Hi. You must be Edward. I'm Alice, Emmett's other sister," She said extending her hand towards Edward.

"Yes, I'm Edward. It's good to meet you. Emmett has told me wonderful things about you," Edward responded shaking her petite hand. "Well, I'm going to go out to the yard to meet everyone else."

I released a breath I didn't even know I was holding and started walking toward the living room. Alice was on my heels. "Bella was that Edward? I mean was that _your_ Edward?"

I just nodded my head and sat down on the sofa in Emmett's living room. "Un-fucking-believable," I blurted looking at Alice "Can you believe this shit? Edward is Emmett's brother."

"I don't know what to say.....geez Bella...........this is crazy," Alice said. She must have been in as much shock as I was because she was at a lost for words. Alice always had advice but there was no advice anyone could give me right now. _What the hell?_

I looked at Alice and asked for the only thing that could help me right now "Alice, I need a drink."

"I'll go get you one. Be right back," Alice said as she got up to get my drink

Why did Edward have to pop up now? The minute I make some progress and begin to actually move on from him he shows up out of thin air looking even better than I remembered. He stared at me with those gorgeous green eyes and that unruly bronze hair that I loved and I almost passed out. He'd matured so much over the years; he had a scruffy short beard that looked really good on him. His short sleeved shirt showed those long arms that use to wrap around me tightly, they had changed now, had grown in mass. His tall lean frame that used to fit perfectly around mine had become more muscular. His perfect mouth that used to make love to mine was exactly the same, his perfect lips hadn't changed a bit. _Fuck!_ This was just so messed up. I hadn't seen the man in over four years and one look into those eyes just turned me into mush. I felt someone sit down beside me and I lifted my head from my hands expecting to see Alice but it was my mom sitting next to me with my drink in her hand. "Here you go baby," She cooed handing me the glass of reddish pink liquid.

"So that's Edward, huh?" She asked

"Yeah. That's him," I said solemnly and took a sip of my drink. I turned to my mom and asked "Why now? I'd been hoping and wishing for the last four years that I could talk to him or see him. Why _now_ does he show up? Right when I'm moving on from him, when I've found someone that I love?"

"I don't know honey. Things happen for a reason. Who knows maybe you can be friends with Edward. Seems as though he's going to be around for good. He and Emmett get along great so far. Don't over think things right now. Just go with the flow and take things one day at a time. I'm sure he's back in your life for a reason, just try not to stress to much and the reason will reveal itself soon enough," she attempted to console me.

"I know it may seem like I'm overreacting, I'm just in shock right now. Until recently and I mean very recently I thought of Edward every single day. The minute I move on, here he is back in the flesh," I said

"Well honey maybe this is your test. Maybe this is how you will really find out whether or not you can really move on from Edward. I know it may not seem like it now but maybe this is the only way you can move on," She reasoned

I thought about what she said for a minute and then said, "Maybe. I guess I'll find out."

"Bella, why don't you sit here for a minute and get yourself together and then come on out back and enjoy the party. Okay?"

"Ok mom," I told her as she kissed me on my head and went back outside.

I took another sip of my drink and sat there on the living room sofa in complete silence. How in the hell was I going to tell Jake about this? Edward was Emmett's brother so he was going to be around permanently, he'd be in my life permanently. I thought shit like this only happened on TV. I picked up my drink and just downed the rest of it, the only way I could get through this party without having a complete breakdown is if I had alcohol in my system. I got up from the couch and walked back through the kitchen and out the patio doors to the backyard. Even more people had arrived, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I noticed that one of my employees, Angela had arrived and was over by the grill talking to Rose. I'd invited Angela to the party last week; she was a big football fan and was such a nice girl. I knew she'd have a great time here and I wanted to do something nice for her because she'd been busting her butt at work lately. I walked over to the bartender to get another drink and headed over to say hi to Angela. As I walked over I noticed Edward sitting and talking with Charlie and Emmett. He looked towards me and I quickly turned my head towards Rose focused on the direction I was headed.

"Hey Angela. You enjoying the party?" I asked half-heartedly as I approached her.

A big smile spread across Angela's cute face as she said, "Yes I am. Thanks so much for inviting me Bella! They're so many famous faces here."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," I told her sincerely

Looking very concerned Rose asked, "How are you doing Bella?"

Apparently Emmett had filled her in on the situation. I just nodded my head and gave her a small smile. I looked around and saw Jasper and Alice sitting at one of the tables and walked towards them.

"Hey guys," I said as I sat down across from them. I felt it a little bit dizzy as I took my place on the bench. I mush have drank that first cocktail way too fast and needed to put some food in my stomach. As if reading my mind Alice asked Jasper if he wouldn't mind bringing both of us a plate of food.

"Thanks," I said

"You ok Bells?" Alice asked.

"I'd be better if people stopped asking me that," I snapped and immediately regretted it "I'm sorry Alice I didn't mean to snap at you. This is just a lot to take in."

"Its ok. I understand. You better make sure you eat if you're going to keep downing those," She said pointing to my drink

"I promise to eat everything on my plate," I promised smiling

Jazz came back over and sat our plates in front of us. I looked up and him and said "Thanks Jazz"

"No problem Bella." Then he turned to Alice and said, "I'm going to grab myself a plate and go over to eat and talk with the guys. You need anything else babe?"

"No I'm good. Thanks honey," Alice thanked him sweetly

Jazz left us to eat and chat. "So are you going to go over and talk to him tonight?" She asked me

"I doubt it. Maybe if I have another drink I'll be brave enough to say something. I honestly don't know what to say though. Alice I've been pining over this man ever since he left me all those years ago its not like I can go over there and make small talk. What am I supposed to say to him?" I asked her with desperation in my voice.

"I don't know but you better think of something cause he's walking towards us," She said looking behind me

"Shit. Do I have food on my face?" I asked her my stomach churning with nervous energy.

"No. I'm going to take my plate and go eat with Jazz. Are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I guess." I told her as she got up and picked up her plate.

Edward approached and she said to him "I'll let you two talk" and walked away from the table.

He sat down across the table from me. "Hi," He said nervously.

"Hi"

"It's really good to see you Bella. Emmett tells me you're doing well. You have your own catering business?" He asked

I can't believe he was actually making small talk with me. I feel like I'm in the fucking Twilight Zone. "Yes. I started it three years ago and it's doing very well."

"I'm really glad to hear that you're doing well Bella," He said and the bastard had the nerve to sound sincere. _Yes I'm doing very well, no thanks to you_.

"Thanks. How about you? What are you doing for a living?" I inquired

"I own two restaurants in California and I'm opening one here in a few weeks," He informed me with pride in his voice.

"Oh. Good for you. Emmett said you had a son, how is he?" I asked barely able to get the question out.

Edward's face lit up with pride as he said, "Eddie is great. He's an amazing kid."

"Good," I said and paused before I asked, "You got any pictures?"

"Sure," Edward said and reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened his wallet and pulled out a wallet size picture of a beautiful boy that had the same green eyes and messy bronze hair. He looked just like his dad. His face was shaped the same as his fathers and he had the same heart-stopping smile.

"Edward he is gorgeous. He looks just like you," I told him as I felt my eyes tear up a little as the thought crossed my mind that this beautiful little boy could have been mine. I handed Edward back the picture and got up from the table. "Excuse me, I need to use the ladies room." I quickly left the table praying he didn't see the tears in my eyes.

I'm such an idiot, all these years holding a torch for this man. He'd moved on with his life and I was still living in the past. I'm such an idiot, what the hell is wrong with me? I jogged up Emmett's stairs to the second floor bathroom. I looked in the mirror at my teary eyes and turned on the faucet over the sink to splash cold water on my face. I grabbed a towel off of the towel rack and patted my wet face with it. I left the bathroom and went to the guestroom to get my bag and reapply my eye makeup and lip gloss. I really needed to get a hold of myself. Just as I walked into the bedroom I heard Edward call my name, I turned around to see him walking into the room behind me. "Bella, are you ok?" He asked with a look of concern on his face

"I'm fine Edward," I growled wishing he hadn't come up here. How the hell was I supposed to get myself together enough to go back downstairs with him in my face?

"You don't seem fine," He argued

"Well Edward, what the hell do you expect? The last time I saw you, I was crying my eyes out, begging you not to leave me and then you show up here out of the blue trying to make small talk like were just good old friends." I yelled at him

Edward just stood there for a minute looking at me, a slew of emotions flashing across his face, shock, surprise, anger, and then regret. "I'm sorry Bella, to barge into your life like this. Out of all the people in the world, your stepbrother turns out to be my biological brother. Kinda poetic don't you think?" He paused and laughed lightly at his joke, he looked at me and seeing that I wasn't amused he straightened his face and said, "I can't say that I'm sorry to be back in your life. Bella, I've missed you so much. You have no idea. I think about you all time and even pray for you at night. I can't help but think that this is fate, you being back in my life like this."

Now why did he have to go there? He started walking towards me and stopped when he was so close I could feel his breath against my face. Why was he saying this to me? Didn't he know that he was my weakness? Didn't he know how much I loved him, how much I still love him? I stared at his chest refusing to meet his eyes because if I looked him in the eyes it would be all over, I'd be done. "Bella, say something please." He pleaded with me.

"I can't," I said my voice barely above a whisper.

Edward lifted his hand to my chin and pulled it up so that I was looking into those gorgeous green eyes and then he leaned down to kiss me. The moment his soft lips touched mine my body was set ablaze. His kiss felt so sincere, it felt like pure lust and love at the same time. It felt so good that tears welled up beneath my eyelids. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his him and as soon as my body touched his I felt electric currents shoot through me. He had no idea what he was doing to me, I felt like I had no power against this man. All my will dissipated as he slipped his tongue into my mouth. _Jesus_! There were no words to explain how he made me feel.

My knees buckled and he caught me, picked me up and laid me on the bed his lips never leaving mine. He kissed me with such passion it made my whole body ache. My brother's loud boisterous laughter floated into the room from open the window and snapped me out of my daze. I broke my lips away from his "Stop, I can't do this. Let me up."

Confusion replaced the look of lust on Edward's face as he climbed off of me and sat on the bed. I tried to steady my breathing as I wiped the unshed tears from my eyes. As I calmed myself I began to grow angry. I looked up at his expectant face and just exploded "You know you have a lot of fucking nerve Edward. How dare you just waltz back into my life and expect to pick up where you left off. You _left_ me or did you forget? I begged you to stay, pleaded with you not to leave me but you left anyway. Sure, your intentions were noble, but what about me? You have no idea how devastated I was after you left. You didn't even call me to see if I was ok. You just disappeared and now you expect me to just let you in my life again. _Fuck you_!" I screamed at him. I stopped ranting to steady my breathing and then calmly said, "Besides, someone has already taken your place." And I left the room.

I went back downstairs to watch the fireworks show. Emmett had bought a boatload of fireworks and he and other guys were getting ready to start the show. I walked to an empty table and sat down. I needed to be alone so that I could process what just happened. It felt good to tell Edward off. I'd been holding that in for years. I felt bad for not stopping the kiss sooner, how was I going to explain that to Jake. _Shit_! It felt so good to feel his lips on mine. I really couldn't deny that. Why did he have to say those things to me? If he'd been thinking of me all these years why hadn't he tried to contact me? If he really missed me as much as he said he did he would have tried. My head was just so fucked up right now. I needed to call Jake. He'd bring me back to reality. I got up to go back to the guess room to get my phone hoping Edward wasn't still up there. I didn't see him outside when I walked back towards the house. Maybe he left. I walked up the stairs and towards the guestroom. I walked down the hall and turned to walk into the bedroom to see Edward still sitting on the bed


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks to my beta, Dawn!**

**WARNING: Lemon below!**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer**

**Please review!**

**Chapter 10**

Damn! I started to turn and sneak back out of the room before he noticed me but as soon as the thought entered my mind he turned towards the door and saw me standing there. The despondent look on his face was far from the look of lust he had earlier and I almost felt bad for him. I recovered from that quickly and walked in towards my purse "I just came to get my phone." I walked over and noticed my phone sitting on the nightstand beside my purse.

He looked at me with guilt written all over his face and said, "Umm... your phone rang a few minutes ago. I ignored it but then it rang again so I answered it."

"You went in my purse and answered my phone!" I yelled outraged

"No, I didn't go in your purse the phone was sitting on the nightstand." He defended himself

"Well.....who was it?" I asked praying that it wasn't Jake, but the look on Edward's face already told me that it was.

"Some guy named Jake. I told him that you were outside with everyone else," He said sounding jealous.

"What did he say?" I asked panic rising in my chest

"Nothing, he just asked where you were and who I was," Edward said nonchalantly.

"What would possess you to answer my phone?" I shrieked at him.

"I'm sorry Bella. He didn't seem mad or anything. I didn't know it was your phone," He claimed and then paused "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Its none of your damn business who he is. You shouldn't have answered my phone," I snapped at him.

"You know Bella, you're nothing like I remembered. What the hell happened to you?" He asked angrily

_Oh no he didn't!_ "Edward are you serious? I can't believe you. Did you honestly expect me to run and throw myself into your arms? Thank my lucky stars that the great Edward is back in my life. Give me a break!" I replied my anger building

Looking me straight in the eyes he said, "No I didn't expect that, but I didn't expect you to be so bitter."

Before I knew it I was across the room and smacking him across the face. His hand went to his check and he looked at me with complete and total shock. I was shocked myself, I'm not a violent person at all but he pushed the wrong button when he called me bitter. If I was bitter he was the reason why.

When he recovered from his shock, looking regretful he said, "I'm sorry Bella."

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have hit you no matter what you said to me," I said honestly. Even as pissed off as I was, I really shouldn't have hit him.

Edward stared at me for a long moment before saying "Bella, I have too many regrets to count when it comes to our relationship. I don't want to add yet another one to that list so I have to be totally honest with you right now." He paused a minute, staring at me with those beautiful piercing green eyes. My heartbeat sped up at the anticipation of his next words. "I've thought of you everyday since we broke up. I married Tanya even though I still loved you because I thought it was the best thing for our son. I can't stand here and lie to you and say that I didn't grow to love Tanya because I did. The feelings I had for her paled in comparison to what I felt and what I still feel for you. Bella, I love you. After all these years of separation I still love you. I know leaving you like I did was biggest mistake of my life and I wish everyday that I had handled the situation better. At the time I just thought it was the best thing for you and for my son. I'm so sorry that I hurt you Bella. You have no idea."

I was speechless. I didn't know how long my weak knees would hold me up so I walked over to the bed and sat down. Edward had just told me that he loved me. He had no idea how long I yearned to hear those words fall from his lips again. My soul ached for this man for so many years and now he was here declaring his love for me and I couldn't tell him how I felt for him. As much as I wanted to wrap my hands around is beautiful bronze hair and make love to him, I couldn't. I couldn't betray Jake but I also couldn't deny how I felt about Edward. I loved this man so much it hurt. My body ached for his touch. I looked up at him when I heard him call my name "Bella..."

His eyes begged me to say something. To respond to all that he just laid on me. All I could say was, "I can't do this Edward."

I got up from the bed feeling the sobs building in my chest. I walked towards the door and just as I reached it I felt him come up behind me and shut the door before I could exit. I turned to see fire burning in his eyes "Bella, I know you love me. I could feel it when you kissed me. You can't deny that, please don't deny it." He pleaded with me. "I know you may have someone else, but tell me this and be honest with me. Do you love him? I mean do you really love him? Do you love him the way that you love me? If you do I'll walk away and leave you alone. I won't interfere with your life. There's nothing more that I want than to be with you but if you'd truly be happy with someone else I'll let you go. Just be honest with me. Be honest with yourself."

What was I supposed to say to him? He was right. I did love him. He was my soul mate, my reason for being. He knew it and I knew it. There really was no point in denying it. As I stared into his tortured eyes I noticed that they were becoming glossy with tears that were threatening to fall any second. I lifted my hands from my sides and rested them along with my forehead against his chest. I felt him take in a deep breath and let it out slowly. I loved Jake, I really did but my feelings for him weren't even an ounce as strong as my feelings for Edward.

I stood there holding myself together by a thin thread; I took a chance anyway and looked back up at Edwards face. The tears in his eyes were sliding down his face and once I saw them I was done. I took his face in my hands and kissed him with all of the passion and love I had in me. He responded immediately, I heard the door lock behind me right before he lifted me up and carried me to the bed.

He laid me down and was on top of me in seconds, and his hands felt like they were everywhere at once. His lips moved from my mouth to my neck. He placed hot wet kisses up and down the length of my neck and along my collarbone setting my body on fire. His hands caressed my body through the fabric of my dress and then slowly slid underneath and up my legs. With my feet I kicked my shoes off and onto the floor. Edward licked and nibbled my neck causing me to moan. _God I wanted this man so badly it hurt_. He put his lips to my ear and whispered, "Bella, tell me you love me. I need to hear you say it."

With the way Edward was making me feel right now I'd do anything he asked me to do. This request was easy though, I loved him more than words could express and I told him, "Edward, I love you. I love you so much."

He moaned in my ear and smashed his lips against mine kissing me hungrily. I tugged at his shirt and he lifted his body up to pull his shirt off quickly. I lifted my hips up to pull off my dress as he helped me pull it over my head leaving me with just my panties on. His body didn't return to mine immediately he just kneeled above me and seemed to study my body. I took the opportunity to ogle his muscular chest and arms, he had long lean muscles that had a light sheen of sweat covering them. His body was beautiful; his muscles had become more defined over the years. He was still staring at my body when my eyes returned to his face. Before I found myself becoming self-conscious he said, "Bella you are gorgeous. Your body is beautiful."

Before I had the chance to react to his assessment, his body was back on top of mine and his mouth was doing wonderful things to my breasts. He drew slow circles around my nipple with his tongue creating goose bumps on my flesh. He sucked my nipple into his mouth slowly and nipped it with his teeth gently. His mouth moved from my breasts down my torso placing wet hot kisses along the way, all the way down past my center to my thighs. Each kiss he placed caused me to squirm more beneath him and moan louder. He kissed and licked my thighs, each kiss he placed moved closer and closer to where I needed him most. Just when I thought I would feel his mouth on my center he would place another kiss around it or underneath but not quite on it. His teasing was driving me mad and I was certain my moisture had leaked all of over the bedspread.

When I felt I couldn't take his teasing anymore I lifted my head to meet his eyes and said, "Edward." His lifted his head from my center to look into my face. The desperate look that must have been on my face set him off as he quickly placed his mouth to my center kissed my hard swollen bud. His tongue began to stroked me slowly at first and then more firmly. I grabbed a pillow and put it over my face to keep my moans quiet so the party guests wouldn't hear me.

Edward must have looked up at some point and saw the pillow on my face and quickly snatched it off. "I want to see your face, I want to see every little expression you make while I taste you," he told me his voice thick with desire. Edward returned to my center licking and sucking, torturing me with pleasure. I wanted to feel him inside of me so badly, "Edward please..." I begged with no shame "I need to feel you inside me."

My pleading cause a deep moan to erupt from Edwards chest and he was back on top of me in seconds. At some point Edward had taken his shorts off because now he was completely naked on top of me his hardness brushing my center. He brought his lips to mine kissing me deeply and guided his length to my entrance. He entered me with one swift push and I immediately felt my orgasm building. Edward made love to me tenderly, and slowly and then roughly and passionately. Our lovemaking brought so many emotions that I had been hiding deep down inside of me out through each thrust. I didn't even realize I was crying until I felt Edward's hand wipe away my tears and heard him say, "Bella open your eyes baby." I did as he asked and what I saw in his eyes made me weep even more. I saw love, lust, regret and hope, all the emotions that were sweeping through me as he moved inside of me. "I love you so much Bella, I was such a fool for letting you go. I promise you I'll never make that mistake again." His lips came down on mine hard and as soon as they did, I felt my orgasm rising higher and then exploding simultaneously with his, releasing all of my emotions with it.

He lay there for a minute on top of me rubbing my hair as I sobbed into his neck. "Bella, are you ok?"

"No.... I'm......not," I choked out between sobs. "I'm happy......but......I'm....sad....too." I stopped talking because I couldn't get much out between my crying so I just laid there clutching Edward tightly against my body and I let myself cry until there were no more tears left.

Once the tears had dissipated the reality of what I'd just done hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd cheated on Jacob, slept with another man. I didn't even have the decency to use a condom. What the hell is wrong with me? I didn't even take the time to think things through before jumping into bed with Edward, in my brother's house of all places. I was a horrible and selfish person. What was I going to say to Jake?

"Are you okay Bella?" Edward asked interrupting my thoughts.

"No," I said honestly not bothering to lift my head from his chest to look him in the eye.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked sincerely as if he could really fix this incredibly fucked up situation.

"No Edward, there's nothing you can do. I just need to figure out what I want. I need a little time to think," I answered and soon as I did I felt his heartbeat sped up underneath my hand.

"You take your time. I know all of this was sudden and knew you might even regret what we just did but I didn't care at the time. I just needed you so badly that I acted selfishly. I can't say I regret it though," He said his voice thick with emotion

I sat up and looked at him deciding to be completely honest, I told him "Edward in a way I regret what I did but in another very selfish way I don't. I have imagined being in your arms and making love to you countless times since we broke up years ago. I do love you Edward. I love you very much. The problem is that I love Jake too. I can't just erase the feelings I have for him just because you walked back into my life. I have an important decision to make, in my heart I think I already know what I want but I need to think it through to be absolutely sure."

Edward looked at me with sadness in his eyes and said, "I understand Bella. Just know that I'm here. I've been waiting for years, a few more weeks isn't going to kill me. I have to let you know though, that I'm willing to fight for you. I don't plan on just handing you over to another man without trying like hell to win you back."

"Thanks." I said my voice sounding hollow.

"I'm going to go back downstairs in case Emmett is looking for me. I leave you alone with your thoughts," He told me with reluctance in his voice. He sat still for awhile as if he was waiting for me to ask him to stay, when I didn't he got up and walked to the connecting bathroom. I heard the water come on and then heard him turn it off a short while later. He came back towards the bed, put his close on and placed a quick but tender kiss on my lips. Then he left the room closing the door behind him.

I wish I could enjoy this moment we'd just had together. I just felt so horrible for betraying Jake. I know he must be going crazy in Seattle right now trying to figure out why in the world some guy named Edward just answered my cell phone. I'm sure he's wondering if it's _the_ Edward. The man whose name I'd called out while having sex with him. I really was not looking forward to this call at all. I had to make it though. I reached over to the nightstand, grabbed my cell and dialed Jake's number.

He answered on the second ring. "Hello Bella?"

"Hey Jake," I said trying my best not to sound as desolate as I felt.

"How are you? How's the party?" He asked carefully.

"I'm good. The party is fun. Everyone seems to be having a good time." I lied

"Oh. Did Edward tell you I called?" He asked sounding suspicious.

"Yeah he did. About that, this is a really weird situation but it turns out that Edward is Emmett's biological brother," I said nervously and paused. I tried to make light of the strange situation by saying, "Small world huh?"

"Your ex, Edward is Emmett's biological brother?" He asked incredulously and then paused. "You're joking right?"

"Unfortunately no, my ex-boyfriend and Emmett's brother are one in the same," I confirmed and held my breath while I waited for his reaction.

He didn't say anything for what seemed like an eternity. "Are you ok?.....Are we ok?" He asked and I heard the nervousness in his voice. That of course made me feel like a complete bastard. I didn't want to have this conversation over the phone so I lied to buy myself sometime to think. Jake and I needed to talk about all of this face to face.

"We're fine. I'm still kind of in shock. We'll talk when you get back. Don't worry yourself; just enjoy your time in Washington. I'll be fine," I told him hoping I sounded convincing enough

"Okay if you say so," He said sounding apprehensive.

"I'm going to go back to join the party. Emmett is getting ready to set off the fireworks. I'll tell everyone you said hi," I told him desperate to get off the phone with him before my lie was uncovered.

"Ok. Well give me a call later. I love you," He said sounding a but suspicious

"Love you too. Bye," I said and hung up the phone quickly.

I dropped my phone back into my purse and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Afterwards I went back downstairs to join the party and watch Emmett's impressive fireworks show. He had five giant boxes filled with every firework ever made; he was such a big kid. Alice kept eyeing me for the rest of the evening but I tried to avoid her as much as possible and whenever I couldn't I made sure there was always someone else around so that we were never left alone. I had enough to think about without her interrogating me. Edward glanced my way every so often but I tried to avoid his eyes for the rest of the night.

I didn't mean to be a bitch or anything I just didn't know if I could have kept myself from going over to him if his eyes locked with mine. I might lose myself in him again and we'd end up back upstairs doing unspeakable things. He'd left right after Emmett's firework show. He glanced up at me quickly giving me a sad smirk as Emmett walked him out to his car.

I had a lot of thinking to do.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks to my beta, Dawn!**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.**

**Please read and ****review****!**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

I managed to dodge Alice for the rest of the night, but had no such luck this morning. I was still lying in the bed the Saturday morning when Alice burst through the door. "Bella?" She shrieked walking towards the bed. "Bella get up! I know you're awake so get up and talk to me now!"

"Ugh, Alice! I really don't feel like talking right now," I told her very irritated at her for barging into my room.

"Well, that's too bad cause I'm not leaving until you talk to me," She said determined "Look Bella, I know that your head must be all messed up right now but I think you'll feel better if you talk to some one." Then in a quiet voice she continued, "Even if it's not me."

_Did she really just play the guilt trip card on me?_ I shouldn't tell the little dwarf anything but she did have a point. I needed to talk about this with someone. "You're right Alice I do need to share this with someone. But please, if I don't ask for your advice please don't force it on me. I just need someone to listen to me right now," I told her firmly

She agreed immediately and hopped on the bed beside me. "I'm really in a tough situation right now Alice. You of all people know how long Edward has had a hold on me. I had finally begun to move on and he shows up out of nowhere. Alice, once I saw him all my feelings for him came rushing back."

"I noticed you and Edward disappeared for awhile yesterday. What did you two talk about?" Alice asked carefully

"I screamed at him for the most part. Kissed him, slapped him across the face, yelled some more and then jumped his bones," I told her trying to make light of the situation.

I had been looking at my hands while I was talking to Alice but after she was silent for a long while I looked up at her face. She looked totally dumbfounded and was speechless for the second time in two days. It didn't seem as if she was going to say anything anytime soon so I continued, "Alice, I've never felt so many different emotions at once. I was furious, hurt, happy and overwhelmed with lust all at the same time. Part of me feels horrible for sleeping with him because I never wanted to hurt Jake but the other part of me was totally elated to have him back in my life. Alice, he told me that he still loved me and wanted to be with me," I told her desperate for her to understand how I felt.

"Bella do you love Jake?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, I do. I really don't want to hurt him. I feel so bad about what I did I just got caught up in the moment," I told her hoping she heard the sincerity in voice.

"Bella, I know you didn't mean to hurt Jake, but what you did will hurt him. It's going to hurt him bad. Jake loves you so much Bella, he's always loved you. When you tell him what happened between you and Edward you need to prepare yourself for his reaction, I'm sure its going to be pretty severe," Alice told me frankly

"I know. I don't know how I'm going to tell him this," I whimpered as I began to feel moisture build in my eyes.

"It sounds like you have a big decision to make. Do you know who you want to be with?" Alice asked me with no judgment in her voice

"I think so. I don't know. My heart is telling me one thing and my brain is telling me something else. I just need to think about it. Edward and I need to sit down and have a real conversation with each other when our emotions aren't all out of whack," I told her still trying to hold back my tears.

"Bella, I'm not going fuss at you. I know you are in a very difficult place right now. You can't help how you feel about both of these men. I'm just going to ask that you take your time and think things through before you decide who you want to be with," Alice said compassionately

"Thanks for not judging me Alice. I promise that I will think things through thoroughly before I make a decision," I promised her as I wiped the unshed tears from my eyes.

"Your welcome sis. Jasper and I are supposed to fly back to New York in couple of days but if you need me to stay another week or so I could just work from here," Alice offered sweetly

"Thanks Alice." I said really grateful that I had such a wonderful sister. "I'd like that. We could use the extra time to spend together anyway."

"Alright I'll tell Jasper. Oh, and you have to cook for me too! At least two of the days I'm here." She said smiling

"Deal," I told her feeling a small since of relief. I knew the next few weeks were going to be really rough and it would be a big help having Alice around to talk to.

Alice left the room and I got up to get in the shower and get ready to head home. Emmett came into the room as I was gathering my things and putting them back into my overnight bag. "Hey sis, you heading out already?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd get an early start to avoid the traffic," I explained as I continued to pack my bag.

"Are you doing alright after last night?" he asked sounding concerned

Panic rose in my chest. Emmett couldn't possible know what happened between Edward and I last night. I would be absolutely mortified if he knew. "What do you mean?" I asked him trying to sound casual.

"You know seeing Edward. You look like you were about to have a heart attack when I walked him into the kitchen to introduce you two," he said, worry heavy in his tone.

I breathed a sigh of relief and the panic subsided. "Oh, I'm ok. It was a shock to see him but I'm ok now."

"Ok good. Just wanted to make sure you were ok. Well I'm heading out to practice. Give me a call later this week," he requested as he came over to give me a quick hug and left the room.

I finished packing my things and took a quick shower. I got dressed and headed out the door.

When I arrived home I dropped my bag in the middle of my bedroom floor and laid down on the bed. I had no clue how I was going to tell Jacob about what happened between me and Edward. I can't believe I slept with him. I'm so weak when it comes to him. Why did he have to tell me that he loved me? I might have made it out of the room, if only he hadn't said that. What in the world am I going to do? I needed to get Edward's number from Emmett and suggest that we meet to talk. I grabbed my phone from my purse and scrolled through my phone book to find Emmett's number. I'd reached the E's and stopped scrolling when I saw Edward's name. _When did he do this? _I guess I didn't have to call Emmett after all. I became very nervous as I continued to stare at Edward's name. What was going to say to him? Where would we meet? It would definitely not be wise to meet at my house. Maybe we could meet for lunch. Yes, that would be the best choice. Meeting for dinner would seem too much like a date. Maybe we could even meet at my store. As I worked out the details of our potential meeting my nerves got the best of me and I flipped my phone closed, placing it on my nightstand. I should give myself more time to think before I jump into anything I'm not ready for.

A week went by before I finally built up the nerve to call him. I submerged myself into my work to keep myself distracted from my romantic issues. Jake called a few times during the week to talk, he seemed to extremely busy in Seattle and therefore fairly distracted which was good. I was trying my hardest not to blurt out what happened between Edward and I over the phone.

I'd just gotten home from work and decided that tonight was the night I'd call Edward. I was sitting in my bed searching for his number in my phone nervously. I wouldn't let nerves get to me this time though and as soon as I found his name, I pressed send on my cell and put the phone to my ear. Before I could change my mind a man picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hello, may I speak to Edward?" I asked politely trying to hide the nervousness in my voice.

"This is Edward speaking," he stated and paused.

"Hi Edward, it's Bella," I announced in a shaky voice unable to hide my nerves any longer.

"Bella, hi, I see you found my number. I thought you might need it. Well, I hoped that you would need it," he admitted sincerely

"I was looking for Emmett's number in my phonebook to get your number and I saw your name in my phone," I replied calmy. "I was calling because I think that you and I should talk. Maybe we can meet for lunch sometime this week?"

"Sure. I'll be pretty busy during the end of the week but I'm free tomorrow and Tuesday for lunch. Where would you like to meet?" he asked with a tinge of excitement in his voice.

"I was thinking that we could me at my store tomorrow. It's downtown and pretty easy to get to," I suggested timidly

"I live about five minutes from downtown so that will be perfect. Just give me the address and the time you want me to be there," He said cheerily.

I gave him the address telling him to meet me at around 12:30 and quickly got off the phone. It felt good to hear his voice and I wished that I could have invited him to my place for lunch but I couldn't be sure that we wouldn't end up in bed again. I couldn't do that to Jake again. I still hadn't figure out what the hell I was going to tell Jake when he came home. I loved Edward with everything in me but I loved Jake too. My mind was telling me to stay with Jake. He loved me and was good to me. He was everything I needed. Edward had left me and moved on with his life without even bothering to make sure I was ok. Even so, Edward was what my heart wanted, what I'd craved for years. When he told me he loved me, I knew he meant it. I could see it in eyes and I felt it as he made love to me.

I hated myself for hurting Jake. I dreaded the look that would appear on his face when I told him that I betrayed his trust. I had to tell him though. I got up from the bed and went to check my email to distract myself from my thoughts. After that menial task was over too quickly, I decided to call Alice to see if she'd like to come over for dinner. Cooking was my own personal therapy and I decided I'd make big dinner with nothing but comfort foods.

I dialed Alice's cell number and she answered after the first ring. "Hey Bella. What's up?"

"Would you like to come over for dinner?" I asked her quickly

"Sure. Why don't I bring an overnight bag with me and we can watch movies after dinner," She suggested seeming to sense that I could use the distraction.

"Sounds like a plan. Do you want to stop at blockbuster on the way over?" I asked her happy that she'd made the suggestion to stay the night.

"Yes, I'll stop by there on the way. I'll see you in about an hour. I'm just leaving the airport. I dropped Jasper off a few minutes ago," She informed me

"Ok. I'm going to start cooking and I'll see you in a little bit," I told her as we hung up the phone.

I headed to the kitchen and looked through my cabinets to determine what I'd cook for dinner. After careful inspection I decided I was going to make baked macaroni and cheese, fried chicken and green bean casserole. Alice would complain about all the calories, but she'd eat it anyway. I began cooking and as I prepared my dishes I felt my tension melting away.

When Alice arrived she came into the kitchen to watch me cook. I don't know why she liked watching me cook so much its not like she was taking any notes; she has a personal chef that cooked for her and Jasper. "I talked to Edward today," I told her while I poured the macaroni into the boiling water.

"Oh? How'd that go?" She asked with no judgment in her voice.

"The conversation was very brief. I called him to arrange a meeting between the two of us. He agreed to meet me tomorrow afternoon for lunch at the store," I answered her while walking over to my island to take a seat at one of my stools next to Alice.

"You make it sounds so business like." She observed giggling at me.

"I know, I really don't know how to approach the situation. I don't know what I'm going to say to him. He sounded happy to hear from me," I told her feeling hopeful.

"Well all I can tell you is to be honest with yourself. Do what makes you happy. Because of the situation someone is going to get hurt in the end but don't sacrifice your happiness for some else's," Alice said thoughtfully. I thanked her and gave her a hug.

After I finished cooking, we ate and watched two movies before falling asleep on the pallet I'd made for us on the floor.

The next morning I got up at 7:00 am, showered and dressed for work. I walked into the living room and saw Alice still sleeping on the pallet in the living room. I didn't want to wake her so I wrote her a little note on my dry erase board in the kitchen telling her to call me later and to use her key to lock up if she'd plan on leaving the house today. I grabbed my purse and headed out to my car. When I got in my car and tried to start it, it stalled at first. I tried again and it started up right away. I made a mental note to myself to take it to the shop to get looked at tomorrow.

I arrived at the store thirty minutes after I'd left the house. I went about my work and as the clock ticked closer to noon I became more nervous. At 11:45 my cell rang. "Hello?"

"Hi Bella, it's Edward. I have an emergency I have to attend to at the restaurant so I won't be able to make our lunch date today. Are you free for dinner? I can meet you at about 6:00," he suggested quickly

"Oh. Ummm....yeah. I guess we can meet for dinner. Did you want to go somewhere else or eat here?" I asked him unsurely.

"Sure. We can just eat there if that's all right with you, if you'd like to go to a restaurant in the area that's fine with me too," he replied accommodatingly.

"Ok well I'll see you when you get here," I told him and we hung up the phone.

Great! Meeting for dinner was not good. We definitely needed to meet here. The last place we needed to end up is in some romantic restaurant. We needed to _talk_ to each other not sit across the table making googly eyes at one another.

I went back to my work hoping to immerse myself into cooking to keep myself distracted until he got here. It worked until about 3:30, I'd nearly completed all of my food orders that were being picked up today because I was so focused and now I was running out of things to do. I couldn't do paperwork right now; I'd be too distracted and end up having to do it all over again. For the next hour and half I was a ball of nerves waiting for Edward to arrive. I waited in my office to stay out of my staff's way. I told Angela that I was expecting someone around 5:30 and to bring him back when he arrived. I was working so fast earlier that I'd already made our dinner at about 3:00 and just left it in the warming oven.

At exactly 5:15 pm there was a knock on my office door. "Come in."

Angela walked with Edward behind her. He looked practically edible, in his khaki colored slacks and matching button down shirt. His dress was very casual but enough to set my hormones ablaze. "Bella your guest is here," Angela said her face a light shade of pink. I guess she noticed how good Edward looked as well; you'd had to be blind not to notice him. I thanked Angela and she left my office quickly.

"Hi Edward, please have a seat," I said a little to business like.

"I will as soon as you come from behind your desk and give me a hug," he said smiling at me. It really should be a law against someone being this handsome. Really, it's enough to cause traffic accidents.

I got up from my chair and walked towards him attempting to maintain my composure. When I reached him he quickly wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into a tight hug. He smelled delicious; there was no other word that could describe it better than that. As soon as I got a whiff, I had a flashback to Emmett's party and the way he made love to me; my panties instantly were wet. _Shit! _This man had no idea what kind of effect he had on me. It was insane how he could totally overwhelm my senses with just one look or one small touch. While he embraced me he bent down, running his nose along my neck inhaling my frangrance and I heard him utter a nearly silent groan. I extracted myself from his hold and sat back down a bit dazed. "Have a seat," I told him and pointed to the chair next to mine. "I'd thought we'd eat here, if that's ok with you."

"Yes, that's fine with me. How are you feeling today?" he asked casually.

"I'm a nervous wreck to be honest," I told him with a slight chuckle. I wasn't ready to get into the difficult part of the conversation so I changed the subject. " I made us jerk chicken and spicy cabbage for dinner. Hope that's ok."

"Sounds good. I love jerk chicken," he said with a heart-stopping smile.

"Good. I'll go get our plates," I told him and got up quickly to fetch our dinner.

As I walked towards the kitchen to get our plates I passed Angela. She seemed to notice my nervousness and smiled sweetly as she approached me. "Damn, Bella. What's the secret?"

I looked at her confused, "What are you talking about?"

"I've seen you with two stunningly gorgeous men within the last few weeks. Please tell me the secret." I chuckled as she leaned close and with a serious look on her face whispered, "Do you have a pot of gold between your legs or what?"

At first I was totally shocked by her comment especially because it was coming from sweet innocent Angela, but then I just burst out laughing. We both stood there laughing together until we both had tears in our eyes. Once my laughter abated, I managed to say, "Yeah, that's definitely it." And then I continued toward the kitchen to retrieve our food.

When I walked back into the room Edward was typing quickly on his blackberry, he looked up and said, "My work is never done."

I smiled at him and I placed our plates on my desk as I sat down next to him. "Bella, this looks great. Can't wait to taste it," he said and dug into his food.

I began picking at my food; my nerves were too tightly wound right now to allow me to eat. "So Edward tell me about your life. What have you been doing since college?" I asked him.

"Well after I graduated, I move with Tanya to California. She wanted to raise our son back home with her family. Eddie was born in June and Tanya and I were married in October of that same year. Tanya stayed at home with Eddie while I worked to get my restaurants up and running. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when our son turned two years old," He explained sadly "She was in and out of the hospital for almost a year before she passed away. The cancer had spread quickly and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her. Eddie took it hard, I had no idea how to explain to a two year old that his mom was gone and wouldn't be back. He's doing better now; Tanya's family helped me out a lot after she passed. They took it very hard when I decided to move back home. I just felt like Eddie and I needed a fresh start and I wanted to be close to my parents. Eddie's visiting Tanya's sister, Irina and her children in California right now. It's my first time being away from him for more than a day. It's a lot harder than I'd thought it would be," he said with a sad chuckle.

I teared up when he told me about his wife passing, I was no fan of hers but I'm still human. It felt so bad for his son, having to lose his mother so young. I felt bad for Edward too, I can't image watching someone I love wither away and die. Cancer was a terrible disease. I wiped my eyes quickly as he finished up his story. "I'm sorry that you and your son had to go through that. I can't even imagine losing someone so close to me," I told him sincerely.

"Thanks Bella," he replied solemnly. "It was a rough period for us, but we're doing much better now." He took another bite of his food, as did I.

We ate in silence for a few minutes before Edward spoke again. "So Bella, tell me what you really want to talk about. I know you didn't invite me here just to catch up with me."

I still had no clue what to say but I took a deep breath, shook away the nerves and said the first words that came to mind. "You're right. We need to discuss what happened between us the other night and I need to know what your expectations are," I blurted out.

"Ok. Well, I don't have any expectations but I'm hoping that you feel the same way about me as I feel about you. Just in case I wasn't perfectly clear the other night, I don't regret what happened between us. I love you Bella and I want to be with you. I'm not foolish enough to think that we'll just pick up where we left off, a lot of things have changed in four years, I'm just hoping that we can start fresh," he paused to let his words sink in and then continued, "I guess the question now is what do _you_ want?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks to my amazing beta Dawn! She works so fast!! Oh, by the way check out her amazing story, The Office. You will not regret it. **

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Please review!!!**

**Chapter 12**

Edward's green eyes pierced mine as he waited for my response. I knew that regardless of the decision I made someone was going to end up hurt. I needed to make the decision that was right for me. Who would I be most happy with? Its true that I loved them both but only one of them possessed my whole heart. There was only one man who was imbedded in my soul. For years I felt like a chamber of my heart was missing and now that he had returned I was whole again. Deep emotion blanketed me and the realization hit me that there was only one person all along that was right for me. There was only one man that I could say "I do" to, only one whose children I wanted to bear and there was just one man I wanted to grow old with. He was sitting here looking at me with those beautiful eyes that I've missed staring into for so long. I felt like he was staring right through me. My eyes started to tear up as my emotions overcame me with both happiness and deep loss. My love was back and my friend would soon be lost again.

Looking back into his eyes, I finally spoke as my tears began to fall, "Edward, I want to be with you. I love you. I've never stopped loving you, but you have to promise me that once we're faced with a problem you won't run away. Promise me that we will deal with whatever issues that may arise together as a team because my heart could not take it if you left me again."

Edward was out of his chair with his arms around me before I could finish my sentence. "I promise that I'll never make the mistake of leaving you like I did again. I know the pain of not having you in my life and I don't want to ever experience that again." He loosened his grip around me to lean back and stare into my eyes "Bella, I love you and I'm going to make you so happy. I promise." He leaned in and kissed me slowly. His hands gripped the sides of my face and he deepened our kiss as he explored my mouth with his tongue.

I reluctantly pulled away when Edward's hands dropped to caress my backside " I need to talk to Jake about us, and until I do; you and I are strictly PG-13. We can't go there again before I end things with Jake, I owe him that much."

Edward nodded his head and tried to regain his bearings. "Yes. I can understand that," he said steadying his breathing and then continued, "Does PG-13 mean I can still kiss you?"

Instead of answering him, I grabbed his face between my two hands and kissed him with all the passion I had in me.

When I arrived home from work, Alice was sitting in my living room on the sofa with a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey in her hand.

"Hi Bella, how was your day?" She chirped smiling

"It was difficult but rewarding," I told her smiling thinking back to my conversation with Edward.

"Care to elaborate?" She asked

"Well Edward met me for dinner instead of lunch. We both just put our feelings out there and I was able to make a decision," I said as I walked over to sit next to her. I was nervous about telling Alice that I'd decided to give it another try with Edward. She was there to pick of the pieces when I fell apart after we first broke up. I'm sure part of her despises Edward for turning me into the mess that I was after our devastating break up. Even though she hasn't voiced her opinion on who she thinks I should choose I have a feeling that she hoped I'd choose Jake.

"Bella, just tell me. This is your life to live not mine. I told you that I wouldn't judge you. You can't control who you love," She reassured me noticing my hesitation.

"I'm going to try to make it work with Edward. Alice, I love him. I can't let him go again," I said quickly.

"Well I knew that. Bella, I'm your sister and when you hurt I hurt. When Edward left you back then I wanted to rip his balls off. Yes, part of me is weary of him hurting you again, but I know that everyone makes mistakes. It's plain as day that you love Edward. I understand why you chose him. If I were in your shoes I'd probably make the same decision myself. Although I think I would have given myself more time to think things through," She confessed

"I know things are happening very fast, but I look at it this way. In my heart I know what I want, I've always known what I wanted. I've loved Edward for what seems like forever. Even in his absence my feelings never wavered. It's true that I did fall in love with Jake, but what I felt for Edward remained. I promised to be true to myself and to do what makes me happy. Edward has a tight hold on my heart. I owe it to myself to see if we can make it work. I know that if I ignored what I felt for him and chose Jake instead I would never love Jake the way he deserved to be loved because I'd always wonder if Edward and I could have worked. I know I'm taking a chance but in the long run I feel like it's worth it, even if it doesn't work out in the end. At least I tried," I explained hoping Alice could understand where I was coming from.

"I guess I can't blame you then. You're a brave girl. I really hope it works out. I'm here for you either way," She said sincerely.

Relieved that I had her support, I gave Alice a warm hug and asked, "Have I told you how lucky I am that you're my sister?"

"You don't have to. I know I'm wonderful," She said giggling and then became serious. "So what are you going to tell Jake?"

I sighed heavily and said, "I don't know. I'm going to wait until he gets back though. This isn't something you tell someone over the phone. I have two weeks to think about it."

My good mood totally evaporated as I thought about Jake. This conversation was going to be so difficult. Not only would I be losing a lover but I'd be losing one of my best friends for the second time. I needed ice cream, "Alice can I have some of your ice cream?"

She looked at me and with a smirk and said, "Nope. I got you your _own_ pint_. _Figured you'd need it, it's in the freezer."

I thanked Alice and hopped up from the couch to get my ice cream. We spent the rest of the evening talking about nothing in particular while watching television.

The next morning I went in to work and was surprised to see Rose there. She wasn't supposed to return from vacation until tomorrow. She was preparing food trays for a catering event we had this evening when I walked into the kitchen. "Hey Rose, what are you doing here?"

"Hi Bella, I came back a day early because Emmett wanted to spend some time with Edward today," She informed me.

"Oh. Well how was your weekend with Emmett?" I asked her

"It was fantastic. We always have a good time together," She beamed

"Rose you are absolutely glowing. I smell love in the air," I teased her

Rose just giggled neither confirming nor denying my accusation. We busied ourselves cooking the food for our event later this evening. While we chatted about trivial things I had a feeling that Emmett told Rose more about the situation between Edward and I but she didn't bring it up. It seemed like she was waiting for me to broach the subject first. I decided that I didn't want to talk about my relationship issues so I kept our conversation light. We were done cooking we packed up the food along with all of our supplies and headed to the location of the retirement party we were catering tonight.

When I arrived home later that night, there was a beautiful vase filled with red and white roses on my doorstep. I retrieved them as I walked into the house. I set my bag down by the door and walked over to my coffee table to set the vase down. I grabbed the card attached to the flowers, it read:

_Bella,_

_I miss you and I'm thinking about you everyday. I can't wait to see you. I love you beautiful._

_Talk to you soon._

_Love,_

_Jake_

I sat down on the sofa as a feeling of complete despair overcame me. Jake would be back home in two weeks and I'd have to tell him about Edward. The idea alone was emotionally exhausting. As I was sitting on the couch wallowing in my misery my cell rang. I reached into my purse and pulled it out, _Edward_. My mood changed immediately.

"Hello"

"Hi Bella, its Edward," his smooth voice spoke into the phone.

"Hi Edward. How are you?" I asked feeling a bit giddy

"I'm good," he replied. "How about yourself?"

"I'm doing well. I just got home from work and was getting ready to relax and read a book," I answered

"Oh, what are you reading?" he inquired curiously

"Alice recommended this book called '_The Host'_. It's by a fairly new author; she's been insisting I read it for some time now. It's pretty good so far," I told him

"Sci-fi huh? Never pictured you as the type to read science fiction," he commented

"I'm not. I usually go for romance novels, but I thought I'd try something new," I said. "What are you up to tonight?"

"Not much, I just got finished with some paperwork that had to be done before the restaurant opening. I don't have much else to keep me busy while Eddie isn't around. It's too quiet here," he chuckled. "I've called him three times today. The last time I spoke to him he informed me that I was interrupting his game of Marco Polo and that he'd call me when he was done playing."

"Awww! Poor papa bear misses his cub," I teased him

He chuckled and said, "Yes, I do. I can't help it. I'm used to him running back and forth through the house that the silence makes me feel out of place. Wouldn't mind some company, you feel like coming over? You could curl up on my couch and read your book. I'll be on my best behavior."

The offer was more than tempting, but if I planned to keep it my pants until I ended it with Jake, Edward and I could _not_ be alone. "The offer is very tempting, but I really don't think it's a good idea.

"Yeah you're probably right. Can't blame a guy for trying. What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked hopeful

"Tomorrow night is the only night of the week I'm actually free," I answered thinking about my upcoming week.

"Good. I want to take you to dinner. My restaurant doesn't open until this weekend but I'm going to have a special opening for us," he said excitedly

"Sounds nice. I'd love to join you. What time should I be ready?" I asked just as excited as he was.

"I'll pick you up at 6:00 pm. I'll give you a call tomorrow. Have a good night Bella," He practically crooned.

"You do the same. Bye." I hung up the phone absolutely giddy

I got up from the couch to search through my closet for something to wear to dinner tomorrow. I came across the perfect dress in the back of my closet. It was a beige halter dress that tied around the neck. It had a ruched, lace-trimmed bodice and the skirt had soft pleats. There was a black sash that attached to the back and tied around the middle. It stopped just below my knees. Alice had made this dress when she was in one of her creativity frenzies. She went through these phases when she was attempting to create new trends in the fashion world where she hole up in her studio for days sketching and sewing. She would donate some of the articles of clothing that didn't make the cut to me.

After I hung the dress towards the front of my closet I went to the kitchen to fix myself a quick dinner and I watched the evening news as I ate my salad. I decided to turn in early because I had to be at the store at 6:00 am tomorrow to prepare for a catering event we had scheduled at noon. After my shower, I put on my pajamas and slipped under the sheets. Just as I was beginning to doze off my phone rang. "Hello" I spoke into the phone my voice rough with sleep

"Hi Bells, did I wake you?" Jake asked

"Hi Jake. I was just dozing off. I have an early morning tomorrow. How's your training going?" I asked him now fully awake.

"It's going good. They've been keeping me pretty busy. Did you get the flowers I sent?" he questioned

"Yeah, they were on my doorstep when I got home. I meant to call and thank you, I just got distracted talking to Alice on the phone. They're beautiful. Thank you," I told him disturbed at how fast the lie came to me.

"Your welcome. I'm sorry I haven't called you as often as I'd like, I've just been so busy. I miss you beautiful," he said with deep sincerity

"I miss you too Jake." _I'm such a horrible person._

"Well, I'll let you get back to sleep. I just wanted to hear your voice. Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight Jake."

I was consumed with my thoughts about Jake and Edward for at least an hour before I was finally able to fall asleep.

I was up and out of the door by 5:30 am. Rose and I arrived at the store at the same time. She got out looking gorgeous even at the ass crack of dawn. "Morning Bella!" she sang

"Morning Rose," I greeted her dryly. "You're awful chipper this early in the morning."

"Am I?" She asked grinning like a fool. "Well Emmett came over last night so I guess maybe that has something to do with my good mood."

Despite my tiredness I chuckled at her as we walked into the store to begin our day.

Our event went smoothly as usual and I was on my way back home by 4:00 pm eager for my date with Edward who I had spoken to briefly after work to give him my address. I arrived home at 4:30 and had enough time for a short bath to relax my aching feet. I sat in the tub a little too long and had to rush to get ready on time. I swept my hair into a quick up do that I was very proud of because I usually don't know what to do with my hair. I put on some light make-up; along with my tear drop onyx earrings and bracelet. I slipped on my dress and black sandals. I was ready by 5:55 pm, perfect timing. I grabbed my black clutch and sprayed on some perfume before I walked to the front. My doorbell rang as I entered my front room. I opened the door to find a short stout man in a black suit and hat. "Good evening ma'am. Your car is here to take to you meet Mr. Cullen," said the chubby driver.

"Thank you," I said as I pulled my door closed, locked it and walked to the limo parked in the front of my house.

We arrived at the restaurant, which wasn't too far from store a short while later. The restaurant was called EJ's after his son. The driver walked around to my door and opened it for me to get out. He led me to the front door of the restaurant and opened it for me to enter. I thanked him as I walked into the restaurant. There was a host standing at the front of the restaurant who seemed to be waiting for my arrival. "Good evening ma'am, please following me this way," he requested.

The restaurant was empty except for one table in the center of the room that was beautifully set and a grand piano to the far right of the room. The lighting was low and romantic. Once I was seated, the host said, "Mr. Cullen will be out to meet you shortly."

He left me and walked back towards the front of the restaurant. A few minutes later I heard Edward's smooth voice say, "Good evening Bella"

I turned to look behind me in the direction his voice was coming from and my breath hitched at the beautiful sight before me. Edward had on a black suit with a white shirt underneath his jacket and a black silk tie. His hair looked like it had been combed into a style but fell into its own refusing to be tamed. He was absolutely breathtaking and when he smiled at me I felt my knees go weak.

"Bella, you look absolutely stunning," he complimented as he assessed me appreciatively and then pulled me into a tight embrace. He placed a quick kiss on my lips, then pulled away reluctantly as he guided me to my chair. When I was seated he walked over to his chair opposite mine and sat down.

"What's on the menu for tonight?" I asked him nervously, blushing as he eyed me seductively.

"Roasted duck with wild rice and asparagus," he informed me

"Yumm. Sounds delicious," I said looking forward to our meal.

I noticed that Edward was still staring at me with a look of awe on his face causing me to blush even more.

"I'm sorry for staring, but you really look beautiful tonight," he apologized after noticing my face redden.

The waiter came out to our table and poured us two glasses of white wine and informed us that our salads would be out shortly. As I picked up my glass to take a sip, Edward stooped me, "I want to make a toast," he said and picked up his glass. "To second chances and new beginnings."

Our glasses met and we both took a sip of our wine. The waiter came out shortly after with our salads. Edward and I talked while enjoying our dinner and each other's company. He filled me in more about his life, which revolved around his son and his work. I could tell that he was a great father just by the way he spoke of his son. His eyes would light up and his voice swelled with pride as he spoke of his son's accomplishments, like learning to tie his shoes and counting to one hundred. I talked about what I'd done since college, my business and my siblings. Edward wanted to know more about Emmett and I filled him in on some little things about him. I could sense that Edward and Emmett's relationship seemed to be pretty good by the way Edward talked about him. He seemed kind of fascinated by his big brother. I was ecstatic that their relationship was progressing so well.

After we'd finished dinner, I looked over towards the piano and asked him, "So are you going to play for me?" Edward used to play for me all the time when we were dating back in college. He was an expert pianist and I used to love hearing him play.

"I'd love to play for you Bella, as long as you promise to dance with me afterwards," he countered.

"Edward you know I can't dance. A lot of things have changed since college, but that's not one of them."

"Bella, all you have to do is follow my lead and you'll be fine."

"Fine, but you have to promise not to make fun of me."

"Deal."

We both got up from our seats and walked over to the piano. Edward sat down at the bench and I sat down next to him. He began to play a beautiful melody. He was so intense and focused when he played the piano; the music seemed to consume him. It felt as if he poured his whole soul out into each note he played. Just watching him was intoxicating, I felt like the notes he played were speaking directly to me in a language only he and I could understand. The melody professed his love for me and held an apology for leaving me. It spoke of his deep yearning desire to make love to me. I could almost feel his hands caress me with each note he played. By the time he'd finished his song, both of our breathing was labored.

We both took a minute of silence to normalize our breathing and calm our hormones. I was the first to break the silence, "Edward that was amazing," I told him in total awe.

"Thank you," he said. "There's a song I want to play for you. I've been working on it for quite some time now and haven't played it for anyone else because it's only meant for your ears."

"Okay," I submitted timidly

He began to play the most beautiful song I had ever heard. Staring at him and listening to him play this magnificent melody were almost too much for my senses to process so I closed my eyes to focus on the melody. I was shocked when I heard his voice. He added his soulful raspy voice to the melody and sang with so much raw passion. I'd never heard Edward sing, his voice was simply beautiful. As he sang I felt goose bumps rise against my flesh, his voice spoke directly to my heart. Moisture welled beneath my closed eyelids as deep emotion overcame me. The sound of his voice calling my name made me open my eyes, "Bella?"

He had stopped playing and singing but I still heard the song. He saw the confusion on my face and said, "I recorded the song for you to keep because I wrote it just for you. Bella, will you dance with me?"

I nodded my head and we both got up, walking towards the middle of the floor. Edward wrapped both of his arms around my waist as I attempted to wrap my arms around his neck but he was so tall that I couldn't reach. He let go of me so that I could snake my arms around his waist and he put his back around me. I laid my head against his chest as we swayed back and forth. Edward's scent was so overwhelming and inviting. He smelled like a fantastic dream that I never wanted to wake up from. He pulled his arm from my waist and brought it to my chin. I tilted my head up to look into his face as he leaned down to place the most perfect kiss upon my lips.

I don't know how long we'd stayed in that position but it had to be a while because when we finally pulled away my neck hurt a little from the strain. "Bella lets get you home, I really don't know how long I can remain a gentleman," he said frankly

"Good idea," I told him

"Let me close up and we can be on our way." He pulled away from our embrace and headed towards the back of the restaurant to close up.

I walked over to the piano to grab my clutch purse as he came from the back. He locked the front door as we exited and got into the limo that had delivered me here earlier. There wasn't much traffic and we made it to my house in fifteen minutes. He got out of the limo and walked over to open my door. We walked to my front door in silence. I turned to say goodnight to him after I unlocked the door.

"I had a wonderful time tonight Edward. Thank you so much for my song, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard," I said genuinely

"I'm glad you liked it. I had a wonderful time with you as well. I can't wait until we can do it again. Actually I can't wait until we can do a lot of things together," he said suggestively.

I blushed. "The feeling is mutual."

He leaned down to kiss me goodnight. It seemed as if he meant to spell out each of the things he'd like to do to me in the kiss alone. I'd gone all night without allowing myself to get completely aroused by him and with one kiss he ruins it. Not that I'm complaining, I could kiss this man for eternity and never tire of it. He finally pulled away reluctantly and said, "Goodnight Bella."

"Goodnight," I told him as he walked towards his car.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks to my beta, Dawn!**

**Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Please read and review!**

**Chapter 13**

The rest of my week went by smoothly. I finally told Rose about Edward and me, and her reaction wasn't exactly what I expected. She just nodded her head as I told her about our past and that I'd decided to break up with Jake to be with Edward. She didn't comment which made me think that she didn't exactly approve of my decision so I just dropped the subject.

Edward's restaurant opening was this weekend and he invited me, Emmett, Rose, Alice and Jasper. Alice had some business she had to take care of at home in New York so she and Jasper wouldn't be able to attend.

Saturday morning I went into the office for a few hours to complete some paperwork that I hadn't got a chance to get to during the week. I was done with that at about 2:00 pm and after I closed up store I drove to Alice's boutique on the near north side of the city. Alice had made a dress for me to wear to Edward's restaurant opening. EJ's was an upscale restaurant that required formal attire. There had also been a lot of media hype about the new restaurant and a few celebrities were even scheduled to make an appearance. The moment Alice recognized that this restaurant opening was a big deal she insisted on making a dress for me. Even from across the country she was forcing clothes on me. I couldn't complain too much because I knew whatever Alice had made would be gorgeous. I just hope she kept my modesty in mind when she made the dress.

I arrived at Alice's boutique and told the sales lady who I was and that I was here to pick up a dress Alice had left me. The sales lady came from the back carrying a long garment bag that contained my dress and second smaller bag in her other hand.

"Here you go, Ms. Swan. Mrs. Hale told me to inform you that she left a gift card as well for the salon across the street so that you can get your hair done along with a mani-pedi. Just give me a minute and I'll get it from the drawer behind the counter," the nice woman said

"Thank you," I responded

Alice was so thoughtful. I'll have to come up with something really nice to do for her. The sales lady came back over to me with the small envelope in her hand containing the gift card. I thanked her once again before I left the store and put the bags into my car. I walked across street into the salon to get my hair washed and styled.

I made it back home at 4:00 pm. The stylist did a wonderful job on my hair. She put big waves in my long tresses and pinned one side of my hair back so that my hair was draping down my back and over my left shoulder. She gave me a platinum and blue colored flower hair clip to put on the side that was pinned back. I decided to take a bath so that I wouldn't ruin my hair. I pinned up my tresses as the stylist instructed and got my bath water ready. I opened the garment bag containing my dress and was stunned by the beauty of Alice's creation. The dress was simple but gorgeous. It was made of a blue satin material that I could see would perfectly accentuate my curves. The dress was held up by two thin straps and had a square cut that would show just enough cleavage. It had and invisible zipper along the back. I hung the dress inside my closet and went to open the smaller bag. Inside was a pair of platinum metallic pumps that were gorgeous enough to give any woman a shoegasm. Inside the bag was yet another smaller bag, I opened it to find a pair of diamond stud earrings in a white gold setting along with a matching necklace and tennis bracelet. There was a small note card on the inside that read,

_These are strictly a loan. They will look great with your dress. Make sure you take plenty of pictures so I can enjoy my creation. Have a great time. _

_Love,_

_Alice_

Alice was such a great sister she always took care of me. I had to call her to thank her for her generosity. I grabbed my cell phone and after I turned off tub faucet. She answered on the second ring, "Your welcome."

"Thank you Alice! This dress is gorgeous, and so are all of the accessories."

"I know, I know. I had to make sure you looked just as fabulous as all of the celebrities that are sure to show up. I did a little research on Edward's restaurants in California and they are really popular amongst the acting community. Make sure you spread my name around if anyone asks what you're wearing. Do you know what you're going to do as far as makeup goes?"

"Well I hadn't thought about it yet. I'm sure you have suggestions though."

"You know I do. I think you should play up your eyes. Go get the make up kit I had you buy and let me know if there is a blue eye shadow in it."

I walked towards my vanity and pulled out the kit I purchased last month upon Alice's insistence from the bottom drawer.

"Yes Alice there's a blue in here."

"Ok is there a white glittery eye shadow too?"

"Yes"

"Ok. Well first you put the blue on your eyelid. Be sure to cover the entire area under the crease of your eye. Then add the white above it all the way to your brown bone, and then blend it with the blending brush. That's the one with the thick sort of poofy bristles. That should do it. Call me if you have trouble with it. I would just put a very light pink lip gloss on your lips and of course add mascara to your eyes."

"Ok. I think I got all of that. Well I'm going to take a bath and start to get ready. Edward is supposed to be here at 5:30 to pick me up."

"Ok. Give me a call later. You're going to look so gorgeous tonight. I'm so mad that I can't make it. Remember to take plenty of pictures."

"Ok I will talk to you later Alice. Thanks again for everything."

I hung up with Alice, undressed and got into the warm bath. I was excited about tonight. I knew Edward's restaurant would be a big hit. The duck we had there on our date was fantastic, if the other options on his menu were as good as that he would have the place packed every night. I smiled as I thought of our date last week. I'd listened to the song he composed for me at least once a day, I loved it a little more each time I heard it.

When I got out of the tub I applied my lotion and put on my underwear. I did a pretty good job on my makeup thanks to Alice's instructions. I took the pins from my hair and smoothed it back into the style that it was in when I left the salon. I put on my jewelry and the hair clip. I waited until ten minutes before Edward was due to arrive before I put on my dress.

The doorbell rang just as I slipped the dress on. I took a quick look in the mirror and was shocked at how beautiful I looked. The colors worked so well with the color of my skin and my makeup looked even better with the dress and jewelry on. I walked to the door and opened it to see Edward looking as handsome as ever in his black suit. He came inside his eyes taking me in fully.

"Bella you look gorgeous, that color looks beautiful on you," he spoke with awe in his tone.

"Thank you Edward. You look very handsome tonight," I told him blushing from his compliment. "Can you please zip me up in the back?"

He cleared his throat as I turned my back to him. He placed his palm in the center of my back sending shivers down my spine as he dragged his fingers down my back before grasping the zipper and pulling it up closing my dress. I turned back around to look into his lust filled eyes. "Thank you."

"Your welcome," he responded huskily

"Just let me grab my shoes and purse and I'll be ready to go," I said quickly and hurried into the room before our PG-13 relationship moved up to X-rated.

I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my clutch purse, and walked back into the living room so that we could be on our way.

We arrived at the restaurant in no time. There was a small crowd in the front waiting for entry into the restaurant. I noticed Emmett and Rosalie exiting the car in front of us as we got out of the limo. Rose looked stunning in a crimson red form fitting dress. Her hair flowed down her bare back in silky lush curls. The back of the dress was cut dangerously low and the red heels she had on had to be at least four inches. Emmett was looking quite handsome himself in a two-piece charcoal gray suit. He spotted us as soon as he was out of the car and both he and Rose walked towards us.

"Hi Rose, Em. You guys look great!" I complimented them both

"Thanks sis. You look beautiful. Let me guess, an Alice original?" He asked

"Of course. She really did a good job on this one," I said proudly

"Yes she did. You look great," Rose complimented me and turned Edward. "So do you Edward. How are you doing this evening?"

"Thanks Rose. I'm doing well. I'm glad that you and Emmett were able to come out. I'll be busy all night so you guys can keep Bella company," Edward said appreciatively

"You know I wouldn't miss your opening little brother," Emmett told Edward proudly.

"Well let's head on in," Edward instructed as the four of us walked into the restaurant.

EJ's looked completely different from the night thatEdward and I dined here. There were plenty of tables placed along the dining area. There was a woman settling herself at the piano to play. More people began to trickle in as we were seated. Edward made sure we were situated before he headed off to handle whatever business he needed to.

I felt a little bit awkward when Edward left us. The last time we were all out together at a restaurant I was with Jake. Even though Emmett and I hadn't spoken about my personal relationship with both Jake and Edward I knew that Edward talked to him about it. It was weird having my big brother knowing so much about my personal relationship with not one, but two men in my life right now. I was hoping he wouldn't bring it up but he wouldn't be Emmett if he didn't.

"So Bells, how you been? Busy at work?" Emmett asked slyly

"I've been fine Emmett. Yes, Rose and I have been very busy at work. How's your football practice going?" I asked him ignoring the smirk on his face.

"Practice is going good. Keeping me busy. I hardly have anytime for myself between practice and hanging with Rose. Not that I mind. You seem to be handling things so well though. I mean you're juggling work and not one but two relationships. Can you give me some pointers?" he asked choking back laughter.

"Shut up Emmett!" I growled at him.

"No seriously, you really need to share your secret. You don't even look tired. What's the trick?" He muttered no longer holding back his laughter.

"Leave Bella alone Emmett," Rose chastised Emmett.

Emmett teased me relentlessly throughout the night only taking a break when Edward would come by to make sure that we were doing alright. I'd had enough by the time dessert came and I got up to smack Emmett in the back of the head. He shut up after that, glaring at me while rubbing the back of his head. Rose seemed to be amused by our banter laughing the whole time as we went back and forth.

Edward came back to the table just as we were finishing dessert. "Are you guys still okay? Do you need anything else?"

"We're good man. The food was great," Emmett complimented Edward

"Yes, the food was absolutely delicious Edward," Rose said earnestly

"Good. I'm glad you enjoyed everything," Edward responded

"Well bro, we loved to stay longer but Rose and I have to head out. I have to be at practice early in the morning," Emmett explained regretfully

"Ok. Thanks for coming out guys," Edward thanked them both and stopped Emmett as he pulled out his wallet. "No, the meal is on me, put your wallet away."

"Thanks little brother. I'll give you call later in the week. Maybe we can get together for some golf," Emmett said to Edward and then turned toward me. "Bye Bells. Call me tomorrow, I'm having mom and dad over for dinner this weekend and I want you to come too."

"Ok Emmett. See you guys later," I told them both as they got up from the table to leave.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to spend more time with you tonight. I had to make sure everything was running properly," Edward apologized.

"No problem. I understand," I said sincerely

"Come on, let me show you my office," he smirked sneakily

We got up from the table and walked towards the back of the restaurant. Once we entered the office Edward closed the door and pulled me into his arms. He planted a long slow kiss upon my lips that igniting my body on fire.

"You look so beautiful tonight Bella. You have no idea what this dress is doing to me," he whispered when he pulled away from my lips.

He ran his lips along my neck up to my ear, the feather light contact of his lips on my neck was maddening. His hand that was hugging my waist was now sliding down my side along my hips and around to my backside. My self control was slowly disappearing with each touch of his hands. I had closed my eyes and made the mistake of taking a deep breath. I was instantly overwhelmed by his incredible scent. That was the last straw. I grabbed his face with my hands and pulled him down into a hot sensual kiss.

The sudden move seemed to shred his self-control as he lifted me up and sat me on his desk, my dress rising up my thighs in the process. His tongue explored my mouth as his hands explored my body. He slipped his hand between my legs and pulled my panties aside. The moment his finger slid between my slick folds I moaned deeply into his mouth. Just as his finger approached my entrance there was a knock on his office door.

"Mr. Cullen?" A muffled voice asked

"What?" Edward yelled.

"Its time for your interview with the local paper sir," The man responded apologetically.

"Yes, I'll be out in a minute," Edward nearly growled at the voice behind the door.

"Saved by the bell," I whispered

"I guess so. I'll be back in a minute and then we can get out of here. The manager has things under control. Just have a seat and I'll be back before you know it," he said and placed a quick kiss on my lips.

When he left I took the opportunity to calm myself and silently thank the man for interrupting something I would have regretted later. We just needed to hold off for one more week.

I walked around to sit in the chair behind his desk. The computer was on so I checked my email while I waited for him. He came back into the office twenty minutes later.

"You ready to get out of here?" He asked smiling devilishly

"Yes, let's go," I said getting up from the chair.

In the limo I told him that we both needed to cool down and keep our hormones at bay. We only had one more week, he seemed to understand but still look very disappointed.

He walked me to my door when the limo pulled up in front of my house.

"I had a good time tonight even though we didn't see much of each other," I stated honestly.

"The night doesn't have to end just yet. I could come in and we could watch a movie," he suggested.

"I don't think so. Even if you were able to control yourself, I'm not so sure I could," I admitted

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss me goodnight. As soon as his lips touched mine I knew that I'd made the right decision by not inviting him in. This man had some kind of spell over me, I couldn't resist him even if I tried.

I heard footsteps approaching us as Edward continued to kiss me passionately.

"Bella? What the fuck is going on?"

I turned to see Jake standing there with a murderous look on his face.

_Oh shit!_


	14. Chapter 14

**Once again thanks to my wonderful beta, Dawn.**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Please continue to read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

My whole body went rigid when I saw Jake standing there looking at Edward as if he wanted to rip off his arm and beat him to death with it. Jake wasn't due back for another week, what hell was he doing here? _Shit_! This is not how I wanted Jake to find out about us. Jake's booming voice broke me from my trance.

"Who the hell are you?" Jake asked Edward furiously as he came a few steps closer to us.

"Jake, calm down. Lets just go inside and talk," I tried to reason with him

"Edward, just go home. I need to speak to Jake alone," I whispered quickly to Edward.

"Bella, what the hell is going on? Talk to me. _Now_," Jake growled still staring daggers at Edward

"You sure you'll be okay?" Edward asked me keeping his eyes on Jake.

Jake took a few more steps in our direction and was now dangerously close to Edward.

"Yes, Edward just please go. I'll call you later," I said with panic in my voice. I did not want things to turn violent. Both Edward and Jake were staring each other down and it seemed like any second they would lunge at one another.

Edward finally broke the stand off and began to walk towards his car. Jake walked closer to me staring at me with so much anger and hurt behind his eyes that I had to look away. I took my keys from my purse to unlock the door and walked inside with him trailing behind me.

I walked over to the sofa and set my keys on the coffee table as I took a seat on the couch. I still didn't have the courage to look Jake in the eyes.

"Bella, please tell me what the hell is going on," Jake asked, the pain in his voice stabbing me like a knife.

"Jake, I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to find out like this. I wanted to wait until you were home so that we could talk face to face-,"

"So that's Edward?" Jake asked cutting me off

"Yes. Jake I didn't plan this. Edward just showed up at Emmett's house out of the blue. I was drinking and then we were arguing. Then I slapped him and then he kissed me....and...it just happened," I blurted out with tears now streaming down my face.

"It? What the fuck is _it_ Bella? Just fucking look me in the eye and _tell me_!" he shouted

I lifted my eyes from my lap looking into his and said, "I slept with him," As soon as the words left my mouth Jake turned away from me but not before I saw the hurt in his eyes. Hurt that I caused.

After a while Jake spoke again, "Well isn't that just fucking great. You fucked him and you lied to me the whole time I was away. I'm all the way in fucking Seattle missing you like crazy and you're here fucking another man."

"Jake, I haven't been sleeping with him the whole time you were gone. It just happened once," I explained through tears knowing it really didn't make a difference.

"Well what the fuck was that outside? You mean to tell me that you and him weren't on your way in here? Bella...."he paused clenching his jaw. "I saw the way he kissed you. That wasn't a goodbye kiss. And I saw the way you fucking responded to him."

"I know. I'm so sorry Jake. I'm telling you the truth. We only slept together once-"

"That doesn't mean _shit_ to me Bella! You wanted to fuck him tonight. I saw it in your face and in your body language. Doesn't matter if you didn't do it, you still wanted to!" he spat cutting me off. "What were you doing with him tonight Bella? Were you on a fucking date? Are you dating this guy, while your _boyfriend_ who you supposedly love is in Seattle? Huh?"

"No, I just went to his restaurant opening with Emmett and Rose," I explained quickly

"One big happy family huh? Well don't worry about me Bella, continue on with what you were doing while I was gone. You can fuck him, now that I'm not in your way anymore," he growled at me, his words were like a smack in the face. "I can't believe this. I finished up my training and went to see my father a week early, thinking that I could come back early to surprise you. Looks like I'm the one that got the surprise."

I felt panic rising in my chest as he walked towards the door, I didn't want him to leave. I needed to talk to him, to explain my actions. I hated myself for hurting Jake so bad.

"Jake!" I screamed, "Please wait. Don't go! Just please talk to me."

Jake stopped when he got to the door and leaned his forehead against it.

"Bella what could you possibly have to say, that I couldn't see for myself?" he asked sounding completely defeated.

"Just sit down and listen to me please," I pleaded with him.

I held my breath waiting for him to respond or to at least turn around and look at me. He finally turned around and walked towards the sofa to take a seat.

"I'm listening," he said as he sat down.

"Jake, you have to believe that I never wanted to hurt you. When I told you that I loved you I meant it. I do love you Jake. I'm so sorry that I betrayed you." The look on Jake's face made my words catch in my throat. It was a look of complete disgust and it was directed straight at me.

"That's bullshit Bella. Let me ask you a question, was this the first time you went out with Edward?" he questioned as if he already knew the answer.

I looked down into my lap avoiding his glare and answered quietly, "No."

"Aside from your so called slip up at Emmett's, was tonight the first time you kissed him?" he asked knowingly.

"No," I reluctantly responded

"That's what I thought. You didn't give a fuck about how I felt. I called you night after night and you lied to me like it was nothing. You've been going out with this guy on dates, not thinking twice about me. Please don't feed me that bullshit. I'm not a complete moron Bella," he snarled

"Jake, I don't think you're a moron. And whether you believe it or not I'm sorry. I only went out with Edward because I needed to figure out who I wanted to be with. I love both of you, Jake. I know it might sound unbelievable to you, but its true," I explained to him.

"I can't listen to this, I gotta get out of here," Jake said quickly rising from his seat on the sofa.

I felt my chest constricting with horrible pain at the thought of Jake walking out my door. The idea of him leaving and never coming back made my body quake with uncontrollable sobs. "Jake...please...don't,...please...stay," I cried at his back. It was like déjà vu. I was back in my dorm room pleading with Edward to stay with me. Except this time I was the cause of this mess. Jake was leaving because of the awful way I treated him. And this time was completely different because Jake stopped as he reached the door. When he turned to look at me, there was compassion in his eyes. He couldn't stand seeing me hurting even though I hurt him so badly. His eyes also held the pain that I caused. He seemed conflicted as he continued to stare at me. I could see the two emotions warring within him. He sighed as the compassion and the love for me won over the pain I'd caused him and walked over to sit next to me. Unlike Edward, Jake stayed. Even though I'd hurt him so badly, his love for me made him stay.

We just sat on the sofa across form each other in silence. I didn't know what to say to him. I just knew I didn't want him to leave. Before Jake, left for Seattle I knew that I loved him. When I first told him I loved him I meant it, but part of me was still holding back. Tonight when faced with actually losing him I realized how much I truly loved him. I didn't want him to leave me. I couldn't picture Jake not being in my life. It made me second-guess my feelings my decision to be with Edward. I wondered if I was just holding on to the past. Holding on to what we _used_ to mean to each other. Edward and I were totally different people now. I had no clue whether or not Edward and I would work. I knew that Jake and I could work. I mean I didn't know if Edward would have even tried to find me if his wife hadn't passed or if Emmett didn't just _happen_ to be his brother.

My mind was total mush. I couldn't keep bouncing between the two of these men. It really wasn't fair to either of them or to myself. Jake broke the silence pulling me from my thoughts.

"Bella, you can't keep doing this to me. I love you but there's only so much I can take," Jake said wearily

"I know," I murmured sadly

"Do you want to be with Edward?" he asked quietly

"I don't know," I told him not able to reject him, not sure that I wanted to.

"Well, I'll give you time to figure that out. But I can't guarantee that I'll be around when or even if you decide you want to be with me. Call me when you make up your mind, not a day before. Goodnight Bella," Jake said as he got up and walked to the door.

I trailed behind him and as he opened the door, I stopped him. "Jake, I know I have no right to ask this of you but before you leave can you please kiss me? I want to feel your lips on mine again in case this is the last time I'll get that chance."

Jake turned around to face me and grasped my face in his hands. He leaned downed and placed his lips against mine kissing me lovingly. I traced his bottom lip with my tongue begging for entrance and he granted me access, swiftly sucking my tongue into his mouth. Tears began to fall freely from my eyes as he kissed me more passionately. Suddenly I heard the door slam hard and Jake scooped me up and carried me to the bedroom. He threw me down onto the bed and was on top of me with his lips on mine in the same moment. His hands threaded through my hair as he kissed me harder. I tugged at his shirt and he lifted his body from mine long enough to quickly pull it off. My mind was reeling; I knew shouldn't do this, that it would only confuse things but I just wanted to make him feel better. Erase the hurt that I had caused if only for just a moment He went back to kissing me roughly. He began to rub his hands up and down my thighs and then suddenly stopped.

"I can't do this Bella," he blurted out of breath. "We can't sleep together and just pretend things are fine. I have to go."

He got up, pulled on his shirt and left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I could barely drag myself out of bed the next morning. I felt awful. I'd cried myself to sleep last night. Edward had called me at least five times last night. I ignored every one of his calls opting to send him a text after the fifth call just to say I was ok, although I was far from it. I couldn't talk to Edward, couldn't answer any of the questions I knew he would ask. I called Rose earlier to ask if she really needed me to come in today because I felt like total crap and didn't think I'd make it in. Thankfully she said she could handle everything that needed to get done today.

I walked to bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. I looked like a total wreck; my eyes were red and swollen along with my lips from crying all night long. My hair was a complete mess sticking in every direction. After brushing my teeth, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and went into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. As I turned on the coffee pot my doorbell rang. I walked to the door and glanced through my peephole to see that it was Edward. I opened the door, "Good morning Edward. What are you doing here?"

"Morning Bella," he greeted as he took in my appearance. "I brought you a bagel and some fruit for breakfast."

"Thank you. That was thoughtful of you," I said and then stepped back from the door so he could enter.

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok. I know last night had to have been tough for you. How are you doing?" He asked sounding very concerned

"Not good," I answered honestly. "I don't really want to talk about it though. I was just going to run myself a bath and hang around the house today."

"Oh. Well you take the food and I'll go run a bath for you before I leave for work. If that's alright with you" he suggested thoughtfully

"That would be great actually. Thanks," I thanked him

"Which way is the bathroom?" he inquired

"Why don't you come into the kitchen and talk with me for a little bit first," I requested. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Ok. Sure I'll take a cup." We walked to the kitchen and he sat down at the table as I fixed our coffee.

"Busy day today?" I asked him as I sat down at the table after handing him his coffee.

I tried to make small talk before I launched into the inquisition. I had a lot of time to think last night and I needed Edward to convince me that our relationship wasn't one of convenience. I needed to know that he would have searched for me even if Tanya hadn't died and Emmett wasn't his brother. If I was going to throw a good relationship away I needed to be sure that I was always his first choice and that he loved me as much as I loved him.

"Yeah, I'm going to the restaurant to check things out and see how well we did our opening night"

"Edward, I had a lot of time to think last night after Jake left and I want to ask you a few questions."

"Ok. Shoot."

"How was your relationship with Tanya before she became sick?"

He looked surprised by my question but recovered quickly and answered me. "It was a little strained. We both decided to get a divorce because we finally realized that we weren't being fair to ourselves by staying together any longer. Both of us loved Eddie and would always be there for him. We finally realized that we didn't have to be married to do that."

I felt relief at the answer he gave but continued. "You said you loved her though..."

"Yes, I did love Tanya for the wonderful person she was and as the mother of my child. I just was never _in_ love with her. I couldn't love her the way she deserved to be loved because my heart belonged to you. We both knew that we didn't really belong together but we wanted to raise Eddie together as a family. Tanya and I didn't realize until two years after we got married that we didn't have to be together to give Eddie a family. As long as we loved him and respected each other it didn't matter that we didn't live in the same household."

"But you guys never got divorced."

"No. When Tanya got sick. I was consumed with trying to help her get better. Divorce was the last thing on both of our minds. When we found out that the cancer was terminal it just seemed right that we stay married until she passed. I was more concerned about making her last days as happy as I could."

Satisfied with his answer I asked him about something else I was contemplating.

"Did you know that Emmett was my brother before you contacted him? When I first saw you at his party I was in complete shock, but you didn't seem surprised at all."

A tiny bashful smile tugged at his lips. "No I wasn't surprised. I knew you would be there. When I hired the PI to find Emmett, I also asked him look you up. I hoped that you were still in the city. When the PI came back to me with Emmett's information he told me that you were his sister. I was completely shocked. If I didn't know it before, I knew then that you were my destiny. You, of all the people on this planet, were Emmett's sister. It had to be fate. I didn't tell Emmett about us because I didn't want him to think I had an ulterior motive to contacting him. I wanted to get in touch with both of you."

"Oh." That was all I had to say as I processed all of what he'd just told me.

"If you don't have any other questions I have to get going. I'll go run you that bath now." I shook my head no and pointed him towards the bathroom as he got up and disappeared around the corner.

He came back a short while later and I got up to walk him to the door. "If you're not busy later today I'd like to stop by."

"I'll give you a call later and let you know if I'm up to it."

He looked slightly disappointed when I didn't immediately agree to see him later today.

"Ok. Bella, I just want you to know that I don't have any expectations. I just would like to spend some time with you no strings attached."

"I know. I'll give you a call. Thanks for stopping by and bringing me breakfast."

He leaned down to give me a quick kiss on my lips and even though I still felt a bit melancholy the electric current produced by our lips touching shot straight through my body and made my center throb.

"Have a good day Edward," I told him as he pulled away from my lips and left.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks to the most awesome beta in the universe, Dawn!**

**Twilight and it's characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Please read and review. I'd love to know what you guys think of Edward's POV and if it changed your opinion of him.**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**EPOV**

It was 9:30 am when I finally arrived at EJ's. I parked my car in the back and walked into the dark restaurant. I couldn't stop thinking about Bella and our meeting this morning. She seemed a bit stand offish and not as sure about me anymore. I couldn't help but wonder what happened between her and Jake last night. What could he have said or done to make doubt her decision? I should have known that this was all too easy. She'd forgiven me too easily, even though I'd come prepared to prove to her how much I loved and wanted her. I guess she cared about this Jake guy more than she let on.

I flipped on the switch to my office light once I opened the door and sat down at my desk. I had to figure out a way to prove to Bella that I loved her and that I would be the better choice. I knew nothing about this Jake guy and didn't care to know anything about him but I somehow had to prove that I was better for her than him. I could not lose her again. It felt like she wanted to be with me but she didn't fully trust me. I really couldn't blame her for that since I was the cause of that mistrust. I fucked up big time when I left her to be with Tanya. She had no idea how much I wish I'd done things differently. I just thought that I'd be holding her back. There hasn't been one day in the last four years that I haven't thought about Bella. I had to win back her trust.

I reached into my bottom drawer to retrieve the receipts from the previous nights business and my ledger. As I reached down to pull the papers out a picture fell from the bottom of the documents. I picked it up and saw that it was a picture of EJ and I in the park. I was pushing him in the swing and he had a huge smile plastered on his face. I grabbed my cell phone from my pocket to call Irina and check on Eddie. She answered on the first ring, "Hello?"

"Hi Irina, how are you doing today?"

"Good and you?"

"I'm doing well. Where's my little man?"

"He's in the room playing with his cousins. Hold on a sec, I'll go get him for you."

"Thanks"

I heard her call Eddie's name in the background, and his little voice yelled back that he was coming.

"Hi dad!"

"Hey buddy. How are you feeling?"

"Good."

"You'll be on your way home soon, you ready to see your dad yet?"

"Yes"

"Good because I'm ready to see you too. Put Aunt Irina back on the phone. I'll call you later tonight. I love you."

"I love you too daddy."

I heard the phone shuffling a bit and then Irina came back on the line. "He's doing fine Edward. Don't worry so much."

"I know he is but I can't help but worry. I know he's safe with you so I don't worry too much. I will call you guys later tonight. Have a good day."

I hung up the phone with Irina and attempted to get started on the paperwork in front of me.

I was able to concentrate long enough to get the most important stuff done, the other work could wait until tomorrow. I looked at the clock on the wall and it read 3:00 pm, I decided to give Bella a call to see if she felt like company this evening.

I dialed her number on my cell and she answered on the second ring "Hello?"

"Hi Bella. Are you feeling in better?" I inquired

"Yeah a little bit. That bath helped out a lot," she assured

"Good. Are you up for company later?" I asked hoping she'd say yes.

"Sure. It would be nice to have you over," she said

"Good. I'll be there about 5:00 pm. I'll have the chef make us dinner. I'll see you in a couple of hours," I told her

"Ok. Bye Edward," she said sweetly as she hung up. I don't think I could ever grow tired of hearing her speak my name. I loved the way it rolled off her tongue.

I walked to the kitchen and gave the chef our dinner order and told him to have it ready by 4:15. I thought Bella and I could do some reminiscing this evening so I decided to run home and grab some old photos of us from college. Hopefully it would remind her of all the good times we shared together. I'm more than willing to do anything I could to sway her vote for Team Edward.

I grabbed my briefcase and walked home since I lived just around the corner. I set my briefcase at the door when I entered my house and ran upstairs to change into some jeans and a blue button down shirt. I went into my office and dug into my closet to find the box that held all of my old photos. Once I found the pack of photos I was looking for I put the box back into the closet and stopped in my room to spray on some cologne before heading back to the restaurant to pick up our dinner.

When I arrived at Bella's place I had a tight nervous knot in the pit of my stomach. I had no idea how I would be able to gain her trust again without her willingness to take a chance on me. I parked my car in front of her house and walked to her front door. I took a deep breath before I rang her doorbell.

She opened the door looking beautiful in a pair of short black cotton shorts and a white ribbed tank top. She had on furry gray bunny slippers and her hair was pulled up into a ponytail.

"Hi Edward," she greeted politely and stepped aside for me to enter.

"Hi Bella. You look refreshed," I commented

"Thanks. I feel refreshed. I'm glad I took the day off. I was able to do some thinking and I've gained a new perspective on things," she said smiling.

"Well I hope that's a good thing for me," I told her truthfully. "I brought dinner, where should I put it?"

"Just give it to me and I'll take it in the kitchen. Are you ready to eat now?" She asked

"Sure," I said and follow her to the kitchen. I tried not to look at her perfectly round bottom as it, I mean _she_, led me to the kitchen but it was very hard not too. Bella's body was always exquisitely beautiful to me and it had only gotten better with time. Her breasts were fuller and her hips were more curvaceous.

My eyes followed her as she set the food on the kitchen table and went to grab two plates from the cabinet. I unpacked the food and loaded our plates.

"Would you like some wine? I have red and white," she inquired

"White is fine," I decided

As she grabbed the wine and glasses I went to heat our food up in the microwave. As she walked to the table and poured the wine I took the opportunity to allow my gaze to linger on her body. Her tank top hugged her body tightly and showed just enough skin above her shorts to drive me mad. Her legs were long and shapely; I could tell that she wore heels more often now because her calves were more defined. My gaze continued down to her perfectly manicured toes that were begging to be sucked. My eyes roamed back up her body to her long beautiful neck. I spotted the brown beauty mark on the back right side of her neck, that I used kiss when I wanted to get her in the mood.

The soft ding of the microwave tore my gaze away from Bella and the dangerous thoughts I was having. I'd nearly walked up behind her and kissed her neck. Bella constantly tested my self-control, not purposefully of course. Just being around her without touching her was difficult for me. Whenever we were in a room together it seemed as if an electric current lit up the space between us and magnetic energy drew us together. It had always been that way and the distance and time that separated us for so long didn't seem to lessen the effect she had on me.

I took Bella's plate from the microwave and put my in. I walked over to the table and set the plate in front of her chair. There was a tense silence between us, I looked at her as I sat her plate down and she seemed to be struggling with her control as much as I was, at least I hoped that was why she looked so tense.

"I have a surprise for you," I said hoping to ease the tension a bit.

"Oh really? What?" she asked her eyes lit up with anticipation.

"I'll show it to you after we eat," I told her as I went to grab my plate from the microwave.

She poked her bottom lip out in a fake pout before saying, "Fine. I guess I can wait."

As we ate I tried my best to hold back on asking her about her conversation with Jake last night. She had every right to keep the conversation to herself but I still couldn't help but wonder. Mostly because I was anxious to know where we stood. I needed to know if she still wanted to be with me.

"So, how well did the restaurant do on opening night?" she inquired and took a bite of her chicken.

"The restaurant did very well. Better than I'd anticipated," I answered looking at her beautiful mouth as she chewed her food.

She cleared her throat nervously before saying, "This chicken is delicious. Thanks for bringing dinner by the way."

"You're welcome. I'll be sure to pass the compliment along to the chef," I said bringing my eyes back to hers.

"So when is your son coming back from California?" she asked. If she was trying to banish the sexual thoughts I was having about her that certainly did it. I needed to chill out, so I silently thanked her.

"In a couple of days. I can't wait to see him," I told her sincerely

"That is so sweet. Your son is lucky to have such a doting father," she commented sweetly.

I smiled at her and continued to eat my dinner.

"It's such a beautiful night out. Would you like to finish our wine out on my patio?" she asked as we finished eating.

"Sure, just let me get something from my bag," I agreed and walked into the living room to grab the pictures from my bag.

I walked out onto her patio behind her and took at seat next to her on the swing. I presented the envelope to her and as she opened it up and took out the first picture a big grin spread across her face. It was a picture of us at Grant Park during the jazz festival. We both had a beer in our hands and both of our faces were flushed from the heat. As she flipped through the pictures she leaned into me and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder enjoying the feel of her body against mine. Bella had no idea how much I missed her. It felt so good just be in her presence again.

The next picture that Bella came across shocked us both. I hadn't realized that I'd grabbed those pictures too. It was a picture of Bella on my bed wrapped in nothing but a sheet. She had a naughty smile on her face that was directed straight at me. The next picture was almost the same except the sheet had fallen down to her waist and her beautiful breasts were exposed.

"Oh my god Edward, I forgot all about these pictures," her face was beet read with embarrassment.

"I didn't mean to include those pictures, I grabbed them by accident," I said apologetically.

"Has anyone besides you seen this pictures?" she asked panicky

"Of course not Bella. These are my own private collection," I assured her a little offended that she would think I'd show these to anyone.

As she continued to flip through the pictures my mind wandered back to the night we took them and the things we did to each other. That was the first night Bella performed oral sex on me. It was a little rough at first but after a short verbal lesson from me she got the hang of it and blew my mind. My dick grew hard just thinking about it.

"I don't know if I want to give these back to you," she said playfully

"Well these pictures are not yours to make that decision, they're mine. So don't even think about it," I warned her.

I started to snatch the pictures from her but she hurried and stuffed them down her pants as she got up and ran into her yard laughing. I jumped and ran after her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into me as she giggled.

"You might was well give them up or else I'm going to have to get them myself," I threatened.

She wiggled out of my grip and turned around to face me with a stubborn look on her face. She crossed her arms over her chest challenging me. I smirked at her and turned as if I was walking back to the patio and then turned around quickly running straight towards her. Before she had the chance to take off in the other direction, I had already reached her. I pulled her back against me and was pushing my hand down the front of her shorts. She giggled and writhed against me trying to get away but I had a firm hold around her waist with one arm while I used the other to grab my prized possessions.

I pulled out the pictures swiftly and stuck them in my back pocket. At some point during our wrestling match I became very aware of the closeness of our bodies and became aroused. My body shifted into autopilot as I kissed my favorite beauty mark.

"I think I missed one," I said seductively into her ear as I reached my hand back down into her pants. As my fingers reached her hot center I realized her panties were damp with arousal, I was glad that I wasn't the only turned on. As I attempted to rub her center her breathing sped up a little. Her legs were too close together for me to caress her the way I needed to.

"Bella, spread your legs for me," I whispered in her ear

She moaned at my request and complied. Her head fell back onto my shoulder as I slid my fingers into her panties and between her slick folds. _She was so wet._

"Damn, Bella you're so fucking wet," I told her as my erection strained underneath my pants.

I contemplated my next move praying she wouldn't stop me; I was too turned on to stop now. As I continued to caress her center, I kissed and suckled her neck causing her to moan more. Her moans made my dick impossibly harder in my constrained jeans. I looked over at her pool and got an idea.

"You wanna go swimming," I asked

"Huh?" I pulled my hand from inside her shorts and began to pull them down along with her shorts thanking my lucky stars for the privacy fence around her backyard and the darkness that was coming.

"I said, do you want to go for a swim," I asked again

She stepped out of her shorts and turned to face me. Recognition at what I was suggesting registered on her face as she said, "oh, skinny dipping."

I nodded my head in confirmation and began to unbutton my shirt. She eyed me hungrily biting her bottom lip as I removed my clothing. _Fuck, I loved it when she did that_. I don't think Bella realized how sexy she was but I planned to show her exactly how sexy I thought she was.

I felt immense relief when I unbutton my pants and pulled them down letting my erection bounce free. I walked towards her once I was completely naked pulling her shirt and bra off and led her into the pool. The water was nice and warm due the hot day. I pulled her against me once we were the pool and kissed her soft full lips. I could never get enough of kissing her. Her kisses were always so passionate and they always left me wanting more. I lifted her up and she wrapped her gorgeous legs around my waist kissing me fervently. I walked us toward the edge of the pool and pushed her back against it as my moans mingled with hers. I pulled her legs from around my waist and sat her on the edge of the pool so that I could taste her sweet nectar. I looked up at her as my put my face between her legs and placed a kiss at her center. She moaned deeply and her head fell back. I buried my face in her core licking and sucking center. She smelled and tasted so good. I plunged my tongue into her entrance as she began to chant my name alternately between fuck and shit.

"Shit...Edward...that feels so...fuck....oh Edward," she exclaimed

My dick was so hard it felt like it could puncture a whole into the cement wall surrounded the pool. Her moans only encouraged me as I found her clit and sucked on it. I inserted two fingers into her and pumped them in and out of her. I felt her walls tighten around my fingers and as I felt her orgasm coming on. I pulled my fingers from inside of her and lifted my face from her center. She whimpered in displeasure. I pulled her back into the pool, she wrapped her legs around my waist and I plunged into her. Her moans grew even louder as I thrust inside of her hard. _Fuck she felt so good_. Her hot slippery canal wrapped around me tightly as I dove in and out of her mercilessly.

"Fuck...Bella you feel so good. Your pussy is so tight and wet. I could fuck you all night," I whispered roughly into her ear.

She moaned louder as I continued to whisper dirty things into her ear. She always loved it when I talked dirty to her and I was always happy to oblige.

"Bella..God, I've missed you so much. I've missed being inside you. I've missed hearing you scream my name."

As a response she began to chant my name again and as I pounded her harder, I felt my orgasm building and felt her walls tightened around me. I thrust into her harder as we came at the same time; both of us screaming each other's names.

We were both breathing hard I as extracted myself from her and she planted her feet on the floor of the pool. I was dreading looking into her face because the last thing I wanted to see in her eyes was regret. I wanted her to be as happy as I was at this moment. I wanted to see that same longing I had for her reflected back in her eyes. I kissed her shoulder and accepted the fact that we couldn't stay like this forever. I lifted my head from her shoulder and looked into her face. Relief washed over me as soon as I saw the sated smile on her face. She looked happy; happy to be here with me. Complete elation washed over me as I pulled her even tighter to me and kissed her beautiful lips.

"I love you," I told her when I pulled away from her lips

"I love you too Edward," she said smiling serenely. "Let's go inside."

I followed behind her picking up our clothing as she led me into the house. Once we were inside I started slip my boxers back on and she walked over to me and snatched them from me.

"I'm enjoying the view, don't ruin it," she said seductively

I was more than willing to please so I sat my naked ass down on her couch. She walked over to me and straddled my lap. My dick was immediately hard. She leaned down and kissed the bridge of my nose.

I didn't want to ruin the moment, but I had to know, "So does this mean you've chosen?"

She stared at me with those big beautiful brown eyes and said, "Yes, Edward. It's always been you. I was just scared to put myself out there again with you. I was scared of you hurting me again, but it wouldn't be fair to Jake to settle for him because I felt like he was the safe choice. I want to be with you, Edward. I love you. But if you hurt me again, I'm sending Alice after you to cut your balls off."

I laughed at her serious expression said, "I love you too Bella, with all my heart. I will never hurt you again; I want you in my life for good. Please don't send Alice after me."

She smiled and leaned to kiss me. I felt her moisture pool at my waist and moaned into her mouth. She lifted her hips up granting me access and I slid into her once again.


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks to my beta, Dawn.**

**Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Please read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

I awoke to Edward kissing my back the next morning. I turned around to look into his handsome face and said, "Good morning."

"Morning beautiful," he said before placing a kiss on my lips. "What time do you have to be in the office today?"

I looked over towards the clock on my nightstand to see how long I had before going in to work, and then I remembered that today was my day off. "I'm off today."

"Hmmm, good to know," he replied seductively. He pulled me closer to him and I could feel his erection pressing against my thigh. He kissed my shoulder as he ran his hand up and down my naked back. _God this man felt like heaven_. He placed a trail of kisses along my shoulder and up my neck. Last night was wonderful; Edward and I made love until we both passed out from exhaustion. "What would you like for breakfast?"

I thought about his question for a second before answering, "Pancakes. Definitely pancakes with scrambled eggs. I'm so hungry. After last night I need to refuel."

"Pancakes and eggs it is," he said and started to get up. I missed the warmth of his body immediately and pulled him back to me.

"Not yet, I'm still hungry for you." I pulled him back against me and planted a long slow kiss on his lips. As tired and as hungry as I was, I still couldn't get enough of Edward. He kissed me back eagerly and pushed his tongue into my mouth deepening our kiss further. He moaned into my mouth and pulled the rest of my sheet from around my body exposing me. He grasped my breasts with his palms and I wrapped my leg around him pulling him closer to me. His hand moved from my breast down between my legs to grab his length and rub it against my slippery center.

His teasing was driving me mad. "Edward, please. Stop teasing me. I want to feel you inside of me," I pleaded with him. He moaned at my request but still didn't comply. He let go of my mouth and began to kiss from my neck to my ear.

"Tell me what you want, Bella" he ordered huskily. "If you want me to fuck you, all you have to do is ask."

I whimpered into his ear. He knew how much it turned me on when he talked like that. Two could play that game though; I knew that he loved a filthy mouth as much as I did. "Yes, I want you to fuck me, Edward. Please fuck me," I begged, knowing it would set him off. He moaned loudly as he grabbed my thigh for leverage and plunged into me.

When we finally detached from each other and Edward went to the kitchen to prepare our breakfast, I checked the missed calls on my cell phone. Alice had called me twice, so I decided to call her back while Edward was cooking.

"Hello," Alice chirped into phone after the first ring.

"Hi Alice. How are you feeling?" I asked happy to hear her voice

"I'm good. Morning sickness is a bitch but I'll live," she complained. "How are you?"

"I'm great actually," I swooned

"Great huh? Let me guess you finally boned Edward, again that is," she teased me

"Well we solidified our relationship," I said coyly

"Yeah I bet you did. Is he still there?" she asked

Just as she finished her question Edward walked back into the room to ask if I wanted blueberries in my pancakes.

Alice overheard and said, "Well there's the answer to my question. I guess you really put it on him if he's cooking _you_ breakfast."

Alice and I giggled together before she told me to give her call later. She didn't want anything in particular when she called earlier. I told her I'd be sure to call when Edward left before I hung up the phone.

I got up from the bed, slipping on my cotton shorts and tank and walked into the kitchen to find Edward making pancakes dressed in nothing but my apron. I leaned against the doorframe taking in the glorious view of his tight muscular ass before he noticed I was standing there. I was so distracted by his spectacular body that I hadn't noticed when he turned around and caught me ogling him.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked slyly smirking at me

"You have no idea," I told him as I walked over to give him a kiss on the lips.

He pulled away and said, "If you start that you're going to make me burn the pancakes."

I groaned but walked towards the island and took a seat on one of my barstools. "Those pancakes smell so good," I complimented him while my stomach growled angrily.

"They will be ready in a minute," he assured me

I continued to watch him prepare our food and when he was done, he brought our plates to the table and we sat and practically devoured our breakfast. After our marathon last night we both were ravenous.

After we were done eating breakfast I asked, "So do you have to work today or can I have you all to myself?"

"I just have to give the manager of my restaurant a call to see if he needs anything and then I'm all yours," he explained

He got up to make that call and after I placed our dirty dishes in the sink I walked to my room and undressed to take a hot bath. Just as I sunk into my Jacuzzi tub Edward entered the bathroom still naked. _God he was gorgeous_.

"Looks like I don't have to put out any fires today so I'm yours as long as you want me," he said with an incredibly sexy smile on his handsome face

"Good, now join me please," I requested

He got into the tub sitting beside me, "This feels wonderful."

"Yes, I know. This tub was a great investment," I said thoroughly enjoying the pressure of the shooting water as his massaged my back.

"I was thinking that maybe I could spend the night again tonight. I don't have to pick up Eddie from the airport until tomorrow afternoon, so we can enjoy the rest of our day together," he suggested.

"Sounds great to me," I agreed.

We sat there a while enjoying the hot water and let our muscles relax. We both had our heads leaned back against the tub and our eyes closed. Edward broke the silence after a while.

"So what would you like to do today?" he asked

"Honestly, nothing. I just want to stay home with you today," I responded with my eyes still closed.

I felt him shift beside me and then I felt his arms around my waist pulling me towards him. He motioned for me to straddle him and I was happy to oblige.

"I'm so glad you said that," he murmured against my chest as he began to place kisses against it.

I responded by lacing my fingers into his thick hair and muttered, "Edward you are insatiable,"

He slipped a finger between my legs and into my folds. Feeling the slickness between my folds he said, "Seems like I'm not the only one."

We spent the rest of our day together cuddling and making love. He cooked us lunch and I returned the favor by cooking dinner. It felt so nice to spend the day together and connect with each both physically and emotionally. I knew I had to face reality and eventually talk to Jake to provide him with the closure he deserved so I took advantage of the peace Edward and I had for the moment.

After dinner Edward and I were curled up on the couch in each other's arms watching _The Notebook_ of all movies.

"I guess I could have picked a better movie," I groaned about half way through.

"I like it," he said smiling "my character gets the girl."

_Yeah and Jacob gets the shit end of the stick._ _Ugh!_ How do you tell someone that you love them but not enough to be with them? This would be a horrible conversation but it had to happen.

Edward took note of my silence and said soothingly, "Don't worry about that now. We have a few more hours to enjoy each other before going back to reality."

"Yeah, you're right," I quickly agreed wanting to enjoy the rest of our evening together. We finished watching the movie and retired to my bedroom to continue our _enjoyment_ of one another.

I woke up early the next morning and heard the shower running. I looked at the alarm clock and it read 5:00 a.m. Edward had to pick up his son from the airport this afternoon and I knew he wanted to go into the office before hand but I didn't expect him to leave this early. I missed him already. I got up, pulled on my robe and headed to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. I walked towards the bathroom to ask Edward if he'd like me to whip up breakfast quickly before he left for work.

A waft of steam greeted me as I opened the bathroom door. Edward was just getting out of the tub.

"Good Morning handsome," I greeted him and placed a kiss on his lips.

"Morning, beautiful. I didn't wake you did I?" I asked concerned

"No. I woke up on my own. I was surprised to hear the shower going though. I didn't know you were going to leave this early," I said with a slight pout

"I know. I need to get a lot done this morning before going to pick Eddie up at the airport. Trust me, I wouldn't be leaving your side if I could help it," he said sweetly

"Would you like me to make you a quick breakfast before you leave? I could scramble some eggs and toast up some bread," I offered

"That sounds great," he accepted quickly

I walked back to the kitchen and fixed our meal while he got dressed. We ate breakfast in silence and when we were done. I got up to walk him to the door.

"I love you," he said as he leaned down to give me soft kiss.

"I love you too," I told him with my arms still wrapped around his waist.

"Bella, I probably won't see you for a couple of days because I want to spend some time with Eddie, but I'll give you a call later today. Ok?"

"Ok," I answered with a pout but I understood that he wanted to spend time with his son who'd been gone for two weeks. I finally let go of his waist and he walked to his car.

After Edward left I took a shower and got dressed for work. Rose mentioned that we had a two catering events scheduled for tomorrow afternoon so I knew I had a busy day ahead of me. I made it to work before Rose at 7:00 am. I entered the store through the back, walked to my office to power on my computer. I brought up our catering schedule and menus to determine if I needed to take a trip to the grocery store today. I groaned loudly when I realized that the company we had scheduled for tomorrow was Sports Authority, Jake's Company. _Great!_ I couldn't even give myself a few days before having to face him. I couldn't back out of it because Rose would be managing a separate event in the same building. _Ugh!_ _Maybe he wouldn't be there. _This was not going to be easy.

I managed to push the thought of facing Jacob from my mind and focus on the several tasks I had to get done today. I was so consumed by my work that when Angela came over to say she was heading home for the day I was shocked that the day was practically over. I didn't even eat lunch. I had been taste testing my dishes as I cooked over the course of the day eliminating the usual lunchtime hunger pains.

"Geez, where did the time go?" I asked looking over at Rose who was busy adding ingredients to the cake mixer.

"I know. I didn't realize it was this late either. We've both been so busy today," She commented

"Well at least I finished everything that needed to be done today," I said happily

"Yeah me too. I'm mixing up the last dessert right now. Once this is done baking all I have to do is decorate it and I'm done for the day," She declared proudly

I wanted to bring up the fact that we were catering an event for Jake's company tomorrow. But after her response or lack of a response the last time I spoke of my _situation_ with Jake I decided to keep quiet. I decided to ask her about Emmett instead. "Are things still going good with you and my brother?"

"Yes. Things couldn't be better," she answered absolutely glowing. She was definitely in love with Emmett.

"Great!" I replied excitedly

She looked as if she wanted to ask me something in return but instead held her tongue.

"Well I'm going to head on out. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning," I said after I cleaned up my workspace.

"Ok. Good luck tomorrow," she responded and I could tell by her expression that she meant good luck with Jake. I guess she did realize that Sports Authority was his company.

"Thanks," I told her and walked to my car.

When I pulled into my driveway my phone alert went off signaling that I had a text or picture message. I removed my phone from my purse and saw that it was a picture message from Edward. I opened it to see him and his son with their heads together smiling hugely into the camera. _Awww!_ They were just too cute for words. They looked so happy to be reunited. I really couldn't wait to meet his son, from what Edward has told me he seemed like such a great kid.

I got out of my car and headed into my house. I didn't realize how drained I was until I plopped down onto the couch and nearly fell asleep after a minute or two. I decided I would turn in early tonight. I took a long hot shower and slipped into my short pajama set. I went to the kitchen and fixed myself a turkey sandwich and cut up and apple. I sat in front of the television watching the evening news while I ate dinner. My phone rang at 8:00 pm; I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Edward.

"Hi Edward," I cooed into the phone

"Hey beautiful. How was your day?" he asked sweetly

"It was long. I'm pooped," I told him honestly

"Aww. Too bad and I can't come over and give you a massage to help you relax," he said suggestively

"That would be nice right now," I agreed

"Well I'll owe you one. How's that?" he suggested

"I'm going to hold you to that. The picture you sent me was so incredibly cute. Your son is absolutely adorable. How excited was he to see you?" I asked excitedly

"We both were very excited to see each other. His cousin had to hold him back from running across the airport when he spotted me" he chuckled

"Awww. That's so cute. Is he asleep already?" I asked noticing that I hadn't heard him in the background

"Yes, he just fell asleep not too long ago. I will let you get some rest yourself. I just wanted to hear your voice before I went to bed," he said smoothly

"Ok. I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I'll give you a call tomorrow evening," I stated

"Ok. I love you beautiful," he crooned

"I love you too. Goodnight Edward." I hung up the phone with a smile on my face. I turned off the television and went to my bedroom to turn in for the rest of the night. I had a busy day tomorrow. I had to finish the last of my dishes and also mentally prepare myself to see Jake. All of my catering events have gone smoothly thus far and I hope this one will not be the exception.


End file.
